Violent crime plunges 12 percent in US in 2010

[DejaVu]

Violent crime plunges 12 percent in US in 2010

Fri, Sep 16, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of violent crimes fell by a surprising 12 percent in the United States last year, a far bigger drop than the nation has been averaging since 2001, the Justice Department said.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported there were 3.8 million violent crimes last year, down from 4.3 million in 2009.

Experts aren't sure why. The expectation had been that crime would increase in a weak economy with high unemployment like that seen in 2010.

The reality is that "we're surprised to find how much it declines," Professor Alfred Blumstein of Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz School said Friday.

Continued: http://news.yahoo.com/violent-crime-plunges-12-percent-us-2010-194554353.html

[Terry]

Guess they haven't been to C-U lately.  Crime is booming there.

[Pretender]

Maybe it's like the unemployment rate.....it's not the real picture of all able-bodied people that are unemployed. Reductions in Police Departments, etc. may not have the personpower required to keep accurate records of violent crime. Then again, what's considered violent crime these days?!? Seems like a lot of us just apathetically accept more bad as okay then we use to.

[DejaVu]

I think Pretender is on to something, "it's not the real picture". Checking just now I pulled up this http://www.news-gazette.com/news/courts-police-and-fire/2010-03-25/police-crime-isnt-reports-it-are.html so I would think this is a good example of how things are not always the way we think they are. The experts can't explain why violent crime is going down. I read this story because my first thought was..how can this be? It seems like every time you turn around there's violent crime being broadcast in the news media...and maybe therein lies the problem. People seem to pay more attention and remember the bad stuff so I can see how we can end of believing things are worse than they are.

For me...I think there may be a metaphysical explanation why violent crime is going down. There is a mass awakening happening. People are becoming more aware...there is definitely some sort of shift taking place I can see it in the people around me. People being more thoughtful and open-minded. I see it on the internet too. It would make sense that people would not be reacting in violent ways...so the crime would naturally go down. Not asking anyone to believe...