After hearing the news reports last week about a drive by shooting in Washington DC where 13 people were hit by gunfire, I looked up the most recent statistics about the United States violent crime rate and it isn’t good. The latest figures released for the year 2011 shows violent crime up 17% and property crime rate up 11%. The Bureau of Justice releases the statistics and tracks residents aged 12 and over. The rate of victimization increased from 19.3 to 22.3 per 1,000 persons in 2011. Of course, gender makes a difference. Males showed up with 25.4 violent victimization crimes per 1,000 compared with females at 19.8. You live in an urban area and you will experience a significant violent crime increase over being in the suburbs. Urban crimes over those in the suburbs are 36% higher. What we have here appears to snap a 20 year trend of falling violent crime rates but let me give you the ugly that stands out in America. In 2010, the number of violent incidents involving rape, robbery, and assault was 4,935,980 compared to 5,805,430. An increase of 870,000. That’s the 17% number. This survey does not track the crimes of homicide and arson. The way these statistics were put together between 2010 and 2011, according the Bureau of Justice, is the same. Is Wayne LaPierre of the NRA right as suggested by this cartoon from Newsday. I don’t know. I wish I had the solution but I don’t. What do you think?Rise In Violent Crime