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SEARCHViolent crime rates across the U.S. jumped by about 18%, and property crimes rose by 11% between 2010 and 2011, according to a report released Wednesday by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Violent crime rates across the U.S. jumped by about 18%, and property crimes rose by 11% between 2010 and 2011, according to a report released Wednesday by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.
It's the first increase in both categories since 1993, according to the annual National Crime Victimization Survey that captures crimes not reported to police departments.
The survey reported that 5.8 million people age 12 and up were victims of violent crime, while 17.1 million were victims of property crime. The steepest increase came from a 22% increase in the number of aggravated and simple assaults.
The survey flies in the face of FBI crime data released earlier this year reporting a 4% drop in violent crime in 2011, the fifth decrease in as many years.
Eugene O'Donnell, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, told the Huffington Post the disparity was troubling.
"It calls into question whether whether police departments, either subtlely or overtly, are discouraging reporting," O'Donnell said. "There's real pressure on police departments to have the numbers going down all the time."
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