FBI: Major Crime Up 2 Percent

By CHRISOPHER NEWTON
.c The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (June 23) - Major crime increased in the United States last year for the first time in a decade, including a 3.1 percent increase in murders, a law enforcement official said Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity about contents of an annual report to be released Monday by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, said it will show jumps in robberies, burglaries and car thefts.

Overall, major crimes in 2001 were up by 2 percent from 2000, the official said.

Statistics from the report were first reported by The Washington Post, which said it obtained a copy of the document.

The newspaper said the latest release shows crime reports in suburban areas overall were up 2.2 percent.

Regionally, only the Northeast showed a drop in crime, it said, with the largest increase in the West, followed by the South and Midwest.

The more than 3,000 deaths from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were excluded from the FBI report. Citing the report, the Post said if those deaths were counted as homicides, the number of murders would have increased by 26 percent from 2000.

The reversal of nine years of declining crime numbers is certain to generate considerable interest in Congress, as well among the law enforcement community.

Moreover, it comes at a time the FBI is shifting from a focus on traditional crimes in favor of efforts to head off terrorist attacks.

Criminologists have been warning for some time that surges in the numbers of teenagers and released prisoners, along with recent economic declines, threatened a return to rising crime.

The Post said most of the increase in 2001 was driven by jumps in various property crimes - led by car thefts at 6 percent - while the overall number of violent crimes rose by less than 1 percent.

But it said every category except aggravated assault showed an increase, and crime experts said the rises in murders and robberies were particularly alarming because of the severe impact they have on neighborhoods and communities.

Homicides increased sharply in many U.S. cities last year, including a jump of 67 percent in Boston and double-digit percentage spikes in Houston, Atlanta, St. Louis and Phoenix, the newspaper said. Murders also increased at smaller rates in Chicago and Los Angeles but continued to decline in New York City when those slain in the World Trade Center attack were excluded.


  06/23/02 09:41 EDT

Now that the FBI report is out, how long before the next wave of gun-grabbing legislation begins... 'cause it's for the childrenz...

Gee howbout NEVER

Since gun control was obvioulsy unable to keep crime down in places like Boston, DC and California.

The key is to find and make public the reasons why.

It shows that all gun control and particularly the AW ban doesn't work.  ARs have never been a problem when it comes to criminal misuse, so this will probably be lost on them.

What I hope is that someone will finally, convincingly point out to sheeple that crime is controlled by ECONOMICS. Recession began in 2000 so crime went up in 2001.

If this theory holds correct than the crime rate will resume dropping the year AFTER the economy begins growing again.

So if we already are in recovery (debateable but for arguments sake) than crime will still rise through this year, and begin to drop again next year.

This message needs to be gotten out to the sheeple in the general public. Fortunately, unlike in the late 80's, early 90's, we have the Internet and Fox News Channel. Last time we were simply muzzled, this message could not be delivered because the three broadcast networks and CNN conspired to squash it, as it didn't agree with the political views of the people that ran those four news channels.

Finding and making public the reasons why more gun laws won't/don't work is the answer, agreed... But the mindset of those who try and ban anything and everything is more of, 'crime is up, I guess we need more laws'...

But I do agree with the other thread that we do have momentum on our side... I guess we gun owners have gotten kicked so many times that now when I see a report like this I start waiting for the other shoe to drop...

Now, we won't let the facts stand in the way of the creation of additional gun laws, will we?