Thread: CNN crime rate articles Well CNN which is it?

These two articles by the same writer, posted within days. One says crime rates going up and the other says crime rates going down?
U.S. violent crime up for first time in years - CNN.com

U.S. violent crime down for fifth straight year - CNN.com

Posted two weeks apart?

U.S. violent crime up for first time in years

By Terry Frieden, CNN Justice Producer
updated 10:01 AM EDT, Wed October 17, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Assaults drive first increase in U.S. violent crime rate since 1993
• Data collected in phone surveys, according to Justice Department figures
• Crime rates had been dropping steadily for nearly two decades
• Latest increase up slightly over record low of 2010

(CNN) -- The rate of U.S. violent crime went up last year for the first time in nearly two decades due to a jump in assaults, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
Data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in telephone surveys showed a 22 percent increase in assaults, pushing up the overall rate for violent crime for the first time since 1993.
Crime rates have been declining steadily over the period and last year's increase compares with a record low figure for 2010.
Statistics showed that the rate of assault victims increased from 19.3 per 1,000 persons to 22.5 per 1,000 last year.
The statistics include 3.9 million simple assaults defined as crimes involving a threat but no weapon that resulted in relatively minor injuries.
A second category described as serious violent crime include rape or sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. An estimated 1.8 million such incidents occurred last year, but the increase from the previous year was calculated to be statistically insignificant.
The results determined that the number of victims of the more serious crime category increased among whites and Hispanics, but not blacks, and among young men, but not among young women.
The survey includes unreported crimes as well as those that were reported. Many citizens admit they didn't tell police about incidents in which they were victims. Roughly half of violent crime is unreported, according to the survey.
The most closely watched annual crime statistics are scheduled for release on Oct. 29.
The FBI's Uniform Crime Report is the most closely watched report of its kind and tabulates all reported crime nationally annually. Experts say they anticipate it will show a continued decline in overall crime. A preliminary report covering the first half of 2011 indicated total violent crime fell about 4 percent.


U.S. violent crime down for fifth straight year

By Terry Frieden, CNN Justice Producer
updated 2:13 PM EDT, Mon October 29, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Crime still falling from 1990s peak but decreasing at slower rate, expert said
• Murder, rape, and robbery decline in 2011, property crime hits nine-year low
• Violent crime remains a problem in many urban areas, according to FBI statistics
• Murders decline slightly year-over-year, but down sharply from a decade ago

(CNN) -- Violent crime in the United States fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2011 with murder, rape and robbery all going down, although crime remains a serious problem in many urban areas, the FBI said on Monday.
The report of all crimes reported to police nationwide showed slightly more than 1.2 million violent incidents nationwide, while property crimes hit a nine-year low.
Compared with 2010, the new figures show violent crime down 3.8 percent overall. Property crime was down 0.5 percent.
Among violent incidents reported to police, murders were down about 0.7 percent, robberies dropped 4 percent, aggravated assaults declined 3.9 percent, and forcible rapes were down 2.5 percent.






Newark struggles with police cuts, crime
Despite the positive trend, crime remains a serious problem in many urban pockets riddled with gangs, drugs, and poverty.
There were 14,612 murders last year, on average one every 36 minutes. That's a small decline from 14,722 in 2010, but it's a decrease of nearly 17 percent from a decade ago.
Most victims were male and in cases where race was known, 50 percent were black and 46 percent were white.
Statistics showed 514 murders in New York and 431 in Chicago.
Guns were used in two thirds of the nation's murders last year, 41 percent of robberies, and 21 percent of aggravated assaults, the report showed.
The closely watched Uniform Crime Reports do not include explanations for the consolidated figures, and the FBI does not comment on the data.
However, criminologists point to a variety of factors for the continuing decline in overall violence. They cite a more settled crack cocaine market, an increase in incarcerations, an aging population, data-driven policing, and changes in technology that include a big increase in surveillance cameras.
James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, said crime has continued to decline from a peak in the 1990s but now is decreasing at a slower rate.
"I call it the limbo stick effect," Fox said. " You can only go so low. You're never going to get down to zero crime."
The FBI crime statistics differed from a telephone crime survey released by the Justice Department early this month. That report actually showed crime increasing last year, but attributed the change to a jump in simple assaults.
Fox said many of those assaults described to interviewers were non-injury pushing and shoving incidents not reported to any law enforcement agencies.
He also noted the increase that the Justice Department reported was from an all-time low in the crime rate the previous year, suggesting crime is entering a low level where police officials hope it will stay for some time.

Originally Posted by LAM

exactly why I stopped watching the news in the 90's, nothing but propaganda. in general not a dam thing can be learned from tv.

what you can learn alot from TV