Murder rate soars in lawless US cities
"The data debunks claims from the Trump administration that crime is out of control, but does highlight cities where violence is concerning."
Inimai Chettiar, Brennan Centre
UNITED STATES: The murder rate in America rose by 8 per cent last year as a small number of seemingly lawless cities witnessed high levels of gun violence.
President Trump ran for office as the law and order candidate and used his inaugural address to paint a picture of ‘‘American carnage’’. FBI figures, which showed a 4 per cent increase in violent crime, prompted his administration to warn that the US stood on the brink of a dangerous increase in crime.
The justice department said that the data reaffirmed ‘‘that the worrying violent crime increase that began in 2015 after many years of decline was not an isolated incident’’.
The murder rate, it added, had increased by more than 20 per cent since 2014.
Jeff Sessions, the attorneygeneral, said: ‘‘For the sake of all Americans, we must confront and turn back the rising tide of violent crime. We will not surrender our communities to lawlessness and violence.’’
Overall, however, crime remains low in historical terms and some experts accused Mr Sessions of fearmongering for political gain. The violent crime rate in last year was down 18 per cent from 2007, while the murder rate was down 6 per cent. Criminologists say most Americans are safer than they have been at almost any time in the past 25 years.
The exceptions are in a relatively small number of cities where young black men face rates of violent death that might be expected in combat zones. Chicago accounted for more than 20 per cent of the nationwide murder increase last year despite being home to less than 1 per cent of the US population, according to an analysis by the Brennan Centre for Justice.
A similar pattern was observed in 2015, when only three cities Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington - accounted for more than half of a nationwide 11.4 per cent increase in murders. Experts say that a tiny proportion of the people of those cities are involved in most killings.
Inimai Chettiar, of the Brennan Centre, said: ‘‘The data debunks claims from the Trump administration that crime is out of control, but does highlight cities where violence is concerning. Chicago, for example, has had serious issues.
But by painting the entire country with too broad a brush, President Trump and AttorneyGeneral Sessions are peddling fear and distracting from the frank and honest conversations needed to find solutions.’’
Poverty and drugs are commonly cited as factors behind America’s elevated murder rates. Some analysts believe that police have retreated from the streets amid activist outrage at officers shootings of unarmed black men.
However, they are yet to pinpoint why cities such as Chicago have had sharp increases in murder while others, such as New York and Los Angeles, have not.
The murder rate increased to 5.3 per 100,000 people last year, the highest level recorded since 2008. Most killings involved guns.
The FBI figures for violent crime include murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.