Violent crime in US up in 2016 but still near historically low levels, says FBI

Violent crime in America rose for the second straight year 2016, driven by a spike in killings in some major cities, but remained near historically low levels, according to FBI data released on Monday.

The Trump administration immediately seized on the figures as proof that the nation is in the midst of a dangerous crime wave that warrants a return to tougher tactics like more arrests and harsher punishments for drug criminals. But criminologists cautioned the new numbers may not indicate the start of a long-term trend, noting violent crime rates remain well below where they were a quarter-century ago.

Still, the FBI said it was the first time violent crime rose in consecutive years in more than a decade.

Violent crimes such as shootings and robberies rose 4.1 per cent in 2016 from the year before, with murders climbing 8.6 per cent, according to the figures. Violence increased 3.9 per cent in 2015, while killings jumped by more than 10 per cent.

“This is a frightening trend that threatens to erode so much progress that had made our neighbourhoods and communities safer – over 30 years declines in crime are being replaced by increases,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said last week during a speech in Boston. “We cannot accept this as the new normal.”

On Monday, Sessions called upon law enforcement to “confront and turn back the rising tide of violent crime.” He has used the threat of rising violence as an impetus for many of his sweeping policy changes. He has directed the nation’s federal prosecutors to seek tougher sentences against most suspects, including some low level drug offenders and has urged them to focus more intensely on prosecuting gun cases.