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<p>Cities Where Crime Is Soaring<br>
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<p><b><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://tinyurl.com/jjmzhss">http://tinyurl.com/jjmzhss</a></b></p>
<p>The violent crime rate in the United States rose slightly in
2015, from 362 incidents per 100,000 people in 2014 to 373
incidents per 100,000 Americans. Still, the long-term trend of
violent crime nationwide has been one of steady improvement. In
1996, there were 637 violent crimes per 100,000 Americans, and the
rate has declined nearly every year since.
</p>
<p>Violent crime is a broad category that includes rape, robbery,
aggravated assault, and murder. While these crimes have become
less and less common nationwide, some metro areas have reported a
dramatic spike in violent crime. In Monroe, Louisiana, the violent
crime rate increased from 640 reported incidents per 100,000
people in 2011, which was 16th highest at the time, to 1,160
incidents per 100,000 people in 2015 — the highest. Based on
figures published by the FBI, these are the metropolitan areas
with the greatest increases in the violent crime rate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Violent and nonviolent crime rates can move independently from
one another, as factors driving up burglary and theft may have
little impact on murder and assault. Still, there appears to be
some relationship, as the majority of the 15 cities on this list
where violent crime soared either reported a similar rise in
property crime, or property crime was already a serious problem in
the area. While property crime nationwide fell by 11.7% over the
past five years, it increased in 11 of the 15 metropolitan areas
on this list.</p>
<p><span style="color:#008000;"><strong><a
href="http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/02/09/cities-where-crime-is-soaring-3/2/"
style="color:#008000;">Click here to see the cities where
crime is soaring.</a></strong></span></p>
<p>Large five-year increases in violent crime rates tended to be
more common in metro areas that started as relatively safe places.
Of the 15 metro areas on this list, nine had violent crime rates
below the national rate of 387.1 reported incidents per 100,000
Americans in 2011. Each metro area on this list reported at least
a 37% spike in violent crimes since, and now all but two have a
higher violent crime rate than the nation as a whole.</p>
<p>In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., John Roman, senior fellow at
the independent research organization NORC at the University of
Chicago, explained that violent crime rates go hand in hand with
several other socioeconomic measures. Roman explained that
violence and poor economic conditions are cyclical and can feed
into each other. There is much evidence that in areas without
economic opportunities, residents — young men in particular — are
more likely to turn to drug dealing and other kinds of crime.</p>
<p>Roman added that the relationship between economic development
and crime is not one-way. Businesses and potential residents are
less likely to choose to locate to a high crime neighborhood.
“[You] really need to do something about crime and violence before
you can see economic growth in a city,” Roman said.</p>
<p>Perhaps counterintuitively, violence reduction is often not the
product of increased policing and crime repression strategies.
According to Roman, safe cities such as New York “have introduced
hundreds of programs and policies — all of which are designed to
improve the community instead of trying to improve the community
by suppressing violence.”</p>
<p>Community improvement is crucial in crime reduction. “Cities with
less segregation, with more diverse income growth and economic
growth, and more gentrification” are the same cities reporting
declines in violence, Roman explained. Meanwhile, economically and
racially segregated cities report persistent higher levels of
violence.</p>
<p>Based on figures published by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report,
24/7 Wall St. identified the 15 metropolitan statistical areas
where crime rates rose the most from 2011 to 2015, the most recent
available year of data. In order to be considered, areas had to
retain the same geographic boundaries during the period covered,
and they had to retain consistent reporting practices.
Additionally, we reviewed annual unemployment figures from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2011 and 2015, as well as
unemployment figures from December 2016. We also considered data
from the Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey on
household income, educational attainment rates, and poverty.</p>
<p>These are the 15 U.S. cities where violent crime is soaring.</p>
<p><br>
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<div class="wp-caption aligncenter"
src="https://247wallst.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/missoula-montana1-e1448305608798.jpg"
alt="Missoula, Montana" width="645"
height="363" data-credit="Thinkstock"
data-id="300544" data-caption" style="width: 655px"><img
class="aligncenter replaced"
src="cid:part2.257C081B.C2E41DEB@frontier.com" alt="Missoula,
Montana" data-credit="Thinkstock" data-id="300544"
data-caption="" height="363" width="645"></div>
<p><strong>2. Missoula, MT</strong><br>
<strong>> 5-yr. violent crime rate change:</strong> +69.9%<br>
<strong>> 2011 violent crime rate:</strong> 250.3 per 100,000<br>
<strong>> 2015 violent crime rate:</strong> 425.2 per 100,000<br>
<strong>> Murders in 2015:</strong> 4</p>
<p>Missoula, Montana is no longer the safe city it once was. Just
five years ago, the metro area’s violent crime rate of 250
incidents per 100,000 residents trailed the national rate of 387
incidents per 100,000 people. Since then, the violent crime rate
has climbed to 425 incidents per 100,000 residents, a 69.9% spike,
and it is now considerably higher than the comparable national
rate of 373 incidents per 100,000 people.</p>
<p>Some crime in the metro area has likely been drug related.
Recently, federal law enforcement officials busted a
methamphetamine trafficking ring in the metro area following a two
year investigation. In addition to 11 pounds of methamphetamine,
federal agents confiscated nearly 70 weapons, including grenade
launchers and assault rifles, as well as illegal silencers and
thousands of rounds of ammunition.</p>
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<p>Ken</p>
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