Violent Crime in U.S. Rises for First Time Since 1993 and Is Up 18% from Last Year

For the first time in 20 years, the number of violent crimes increased, up 18 percent from last year, a new report reveals.

It was the first year-to-year increase for violent crime since 1993, marking the end of a long string of declines. Violent crime fell by 65 percent since 1993, from 16.8 million to 5.8 million last year.

In addition, household burglaries rose 14 percent, from 3.2million to 3.6million. Similarly, the number of thefts jumped by 10 percent, from 11.6 million to 12.8 million.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics’ annual national crime victimization survey, the size of the percentage increases in both violent crime and property crime for last year was driven in large part by the historically low levels seen in 2010.

The increase in violent crime was the result of an upward swing in assaults, which rose 22 percent, from 4million in 2010 to 5million last year.

But the incidence of rape, sexual assault and robbery remained largely unchanged, as did serious violent crime involving weapons or injury.

The increases in violent crime experienced by whites, Hispanics, younger people and men accounted for the majority of the increase in violent crime.

In the latest survey, property crime was up for the first time in a decade, from 15.4million in 2010 to 17million last year.

The victimization figures are based on surveys by the Census Bureau of a large sample of people in order to gather data from those who are victims of crime.

They are considered the government’s most comprehensive crime statistics because they count both crimes that never are reported to the police as well as those reported.

Historically, less than half of all crimes, including violent crimes, are reported to police.

Last May, the FBI’s preliminary crime report for 2011, which counts only crimes reported to police, concluded that crime dropped again last year, down 4 percent for violent crime and 3.7 percent for property crime.

The declines slowed in the second half of last year, a sign to academic experts that the many years of lowering crime levels might be nearing an end.

‘While it’s cause for concern, I would caution against forecasting future crime trends based on a one-year fluctuation,’ Chris Melde, an assistant professor at Michigan State University’s school of criminal justice, told the Associated Presss.

‘You can have percentage changes that seem quite large, but unless you put them in a longer-term perspective you can sometimes misinterpret the overall seriousness of the problem,’ Mr Melde added.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, the most anticipated report of its kind, is due out at the end of the month.