US cities see unexplained rise in violent crimes this year

[alp227]

Source: AP

CHICAGO (AP) — Violent crimes — from homicides and rapes to robberies — have been on the rise in many major U.S. cities, yet experts can't point to a single reason why and the jump isn't enough to suggest there's a trend.

Still, it is stumping law enforcement officials, who are seeking a way to combat the problem.

"It's being reported on at local levels, but in my view, it's not getting the attention at the national level it deserves," FBI Director James Comey said recently. "I don't know what the answer is, but holy cow, do we have a problem."

Americans have grown accustomed to low crime rates since a peak in the 1990s. But law enforcement started seeing a spike last year that has continued unabated. What's unusual, however, is that it's not happening everywhere. Chicago and Los Angeles are seeing homicides on the rise, but other places like Miami and Oakland are not.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ac9b4d33fac7404592b6f316b4ca6c28/us-cities-see-unexplained-rise-violent-crimes-year

[ananda]

1. A clear formula: economy + gunz

..

[jwirr]

3. economy + gunz + trump hate agenda?

[former9thward]

14. Yeah gangs are killing each other in Chicago because of Trump.

[theaocp]

2. Check the lead levels. n/t

[Festivito]

6. 10-15 years ago. Lots of house flipping. No RRP lead enforcement.

Possibly dad would return home from upgrading a house to flip, or family lived in part of a house getting ready to be flipped.

[virgogal]

4. Police not being pro-active has a lot to do with it. The economy

is no worse than it was a couple of years ago and the amounts of guns on the street probably hasn't changed.

[seabeckind]

5. Desperation mode.

People are barely surviving in a very hostile situation.

Try looking at this other thread and try to recognize what's going on in the cities... the areas that bear the brunt of the economic downturns. Eg, the closing manufacturing after the inherent value has been extracted by the "investors".

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017381427

[NutmegYankee]

8. It's a job. Do it or get fired.

[christx30]

16. It does make sense.

After the Freddy Gray thing started, Baltimore cops took a hands off approach to law enforcement. No one wanted to risk a stop going bad. Murders there broke records.
Plus you're risking death, loss of job, jail ect to save the lives of people that say "fuck the police" and "snitches get stitches".
Sit in your car. Do your 20. Get your pension.

[Angel Martin]

22. Yup!

and after the riots Baltimore did not have single officers patrolling alone.

if you have two per car instead of one per car you can attend to half of the calls you did before.

Also, BPD is having trouble recruiting and with early retirements.
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/baltimore-police-department-wants-to-rehire-its-retirees/36919000

Police officers in suburban and rural areas are safer, the population backs you, and the cost of living is less.

[theaocp]

9. Hahahahaha!

"Amazing sense of duty"? They signed up for it. They don't like it, they can quit. Go troll elsewhere.

[theaocp]

13. They go to the "worst" places because

they signed up for the job and were assigned there by their superiors. Pray tell, what did I miss?

[Igel]

23. Does that work for any employee?

Things change at work, conditions are horrible, and the appropriate response is to leave if you don't like the working conditions, safety, pay, etc.?

Rather makes unions and collective bargaining seem unnecessary to the point of being wrong.

Government regulation of the workplace, too.

[uppityperson]

12. Welcome to DU. You seem to be saying there is an explanation for the increase. What do you think

the reason is? I'd like to hear your thoughts, thanks.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

15. Broken economy, easy access to guns, systematic racism, mistrust of police.

This is only unexpected to white suburb dwellers. This is the country we have built for ourselves.

[farleftlib]

18. Yup, things are really bad

and they're going to get worse. And when that happens and people see no way out

[TexasBushwhacker]

21. Suicides have gone up too

especially among middle aged white men. Desperate people do desperate things.

[ancianita]

17. Or it's from something basic: crumbled water lines and lead in the water.

[harrose]

19. In NYC, we're still fighting off 20 years of Rethug rule...

... 20 years of the worst crime this city has ever seen. DeBlasio's going to need more than four years to undo two decades of damage and corruption.

[branford]

20. I'm certainly no fan of Giuliani and voted for De Blasio,

but crime rates improved markedly with Giuliani from their dismal rates under Koch and Dinkins. In fact, the crime problem was one of the primary reasons why Giuliani was (re)elected and DeBalsio hired Bill Bratton, Giuliani's original, hand-picked police commissioner as his own.

Further, increasing crime has led to recent historic lows for DeBlasio's approval rating (and his fairly recent conflicts with the police unions also significantly hurt his public support).

You (and I) might not like conservative criminal justice policies in NYC, but comparing crime rates and public perception of city safety and security is currently a very dangerous game for NYC Democrats, as it is in other Democratically-controlled cities like LA, Chicago and Baltimore.

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/nycrime.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_New_York_City
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20536359
http://nypost.com/2016/04/15/de-blasios-approval-rating-reaches-all-time-low/

[romanic]

24. A variety of reasons

Wishy-washy economy, police corruption, gangs, access to illegal assault weapons, broken homes/families, poor schools and education, etc etc.