FBI Data: While Murder Numbers Dropped In Minnesota, Car Thefts Jumped

WASHINGTON, DC—The number of murders across the state of Minnesota declined by 24% from 2015 to 2016, bucking a nationwide trend of an increase in violent crime, according to data released by the FBI on Monday. The nationwide data paints a much more violent picture for the same timeframe.

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, the violent crime rate rose 3.4 percent, and there were an estimated 17,250 murders in 2016, an 8.6 percent increase from 2015. The property crime rate, on the other hand, fell 2 percent compared to 2015 figures.

The FBI report shows there were an estimated 1.2 million violent crimes in the U.S. in 2016, and while those numbers rose from 2015 to 2016, the five-year trend shows an increase of 2.6 percent from 2012, and the 10-year trend shows a decrease in violent crimes of 12.3 percent from 2007. Murder, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault are considered by the FBI to be violent crimes.

The estimated rate of violent crime was 386.3 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, and the estimated rate of property crime was 2,450.7 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the FBI data. In 2015, the estimated rate of violent crime was 372.6 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, and the property crime rate was 2,487.0 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants.

In Minnesota, there were 101 murders in 2016, down from 133 in 2015. Meanwhile, the FBI reported that aggravated assaults jumped from 7,094 in 2015 to 7,217 in 2016, and the number of rapes increased slightly, from 2,321 in 2015 to 2,348 in 2016.

And, while the number of robberies and burglaries dropped slightly, car thefts jumped from 7,981 to 8,728, or more than 9%, from 2015 to 2016, the data shows.

Experts at The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University say that overall, the data from the FBI show a decrease in the crime rate for the 15th year in a row.

The increase in the national murder rate is due in part to upticks in cities such as Chicago, accounting for more than 20 percent of the nationwide murder increase, the center explained. The 11 largest cities with populations greater than 1 million saw a 20 percent murder increase and a 7.2 percent violent crime increase. The Brennan Center says its analysis shows the murder rate increased 7.9 percent nationally, which is consistent with the FBI’s own findings. A preliminary analysis of crime in 2017 by the Brennan Center estimates that the rates of overall crime, violence and murder in the 30 largest cities will all decrease in 2017.

The overall crime rate decreased by 1.4 percent in 2016, according to the center’s analysis.

“The FBI’s data show trends similar to what we’ve found for crime, murder, and violence in 2016,” Ames Grawert, a counsel in the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, said in a statement. “Crime remains near historic lows, with an uptick in murder and violence driven in part by problems in some of our nation’s largest cities. At the same time, other cities like New York are keeping crime down.”

The FBI said that of the 18,481 agencies eligible to participate in the program, 16,782 submitted data in 2016.

“For the sake of all Americans, we must confront and turn back the rising tide of violent crime. And we must do it together,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “The Department of Justice is committed to working with our state, local, and tribal partners across the country to deter violent crime, dismantle criminal organizations and gangs, stop the scourge of drug trafficking, and send a strong message to criminals that we will not surrender our communities to lawlessness and violence.”

The Trump administration has warned of a crime wave, and President Donald Trump has often singled out the city of Chicago, threatening to send in the feds to combat the violent crime.

In its analysis, the Brennan Center found that gun violence accounted for 93 percent of the increase in murders.

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