Trouble in Arkansas, FBI Report Reveals
Violent crime up 6.1% in state for '05
BY JIM BROOKS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Federal statistics released this week show violent crime in the U.S. rose by 2.3 percent last year over 2004, the first increase since 2001, while property crime decreased.
In Arkansas however, violent crime rose at three times the national average - up by 6.1 percent - and property crimes increased by 1.7 percent.
The figures are included in the FBI's Crime in the United States, 2005, a yearly collection of crime statistics submitted by law enforcement agencies across the nation.
While the violent crime figures for 2005 are surprising, many law enforcement agencies are battling increasing violent crime rates so far this year as well. In cities across the country - including Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Pine Bluff in Arkansas - police departments have already surpassed 2005 homicide totals with more than three months left in 2006.
"I'm seeing some of the same headlines from across the country about the need for more officers and more jail space," said North Little Rock Police Chief Danny Bradley. "I was reading a story recently about an increase in homicides in Indianapolis, and it could just as easily have been a story from the Democrat-Gazette. "You see that repeated across the country, with many cities already ahead of their 2005 marks in violent crime," Bradley said.
The FBI report reveals there were 1.39 million violent crimes - which include rape, murder, robbery and aggravated assault - reported in the United States in 2005, up from 1.36 million the previous year.
In Little Rock, the number of violent crimes rose 8 percent in 2005, while the number of property crimes decreased by 1 percent.
In North Little Rock, the violent crime rate rose by 5.5 percent, while the property crime rate rose by 4.5 percent.
Three states bordering Arkansas - Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas - reported decreases in the number of violent crimes reported to police in 2005. In Louisiana, the number of violent crimes reported went down by 6.8 percent, and in Mississippi, there was a 5.1 percent decrease.
The lower figures could be attributed to, in part, Hurricane Katrina.
The storm, which effectively depopulated many portions of the southern coasts of those two states for the last quarter of the year, left police departments struggling to perform emergency functions and gave officers less time to respond to crime calls.
In Missouri, the violent crime rate rose by 8 percent and the increase in Tennessee was 9.2 percent, the FBI report reveals.
At a recent crime conference, mayors and police chiefs from across the country cited spikes in violent crime for this year and called for greater support from the federal government.
Many law enforcement and criminal justice professionals say that the federal government's focus on funding for homeland security has drained federal resources that used to go to police agencies.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police in March sent a delegation to Washington to protest a drop in federal funding for law enforcement programs.
In February, the administration released a proposed budget for fiscal 2007 that cut more than $1.1 billion from law enforcement programs, including the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program, the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program at the Department of Justice and the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program (LETPP) at the Department of Homeland Security.
According to a study by the association, the COPS program was cut by $276 million, a decrease of 78 percent, the JAG and LETPP programs were eliminated.
Bradley said the lack of federal assistance has impacted his department.
"There's not a whole lot of grant money that's available to us out of the COPS program," Bradley said. "About the only money out there is for school resource officers.
"But, of course, we've already got school resource officers," the chief said.
BY JIM BROOKS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Federal statistics released this week show violent crime in the U.S. rose by 2.3 percent last year over 2004, the first increase since 2001, while property crime decreased.
In Arkansas however, violent crime rose at three times the national average - up by 6.1 percent - and property crimes increased by 1.7 percent.The figures are included in the FBI's Crime in the United States, 2005, a yearly collection of crime statistics submitted by law enforcement agencies across the nation.
While the violent crime figures for 2005 are surprising, many law enforcement agencies are battling increasing violent crime rates so far this year as well. In cities across the country - including Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Pine Bluff in Arkansas - police departments have already surpassed 2005 homicide totals with more than three months left in 2006.
"I'm seeing some of the same headlines from across the country about the need for more officers and more jail space," said North Little Rock Police Chief Danny Bradley. "I was reading a story recently about an increase in homicides in Indianapolis, and it could just as easily have been a story from the Democrat-Gazette. "You see that repeated across the country, with many cities already ahead of their 2005 marks in violent crime," Bradley said.
The FBI report reveals there were 1.39 million violent crimes - which include rape, murder, robbery and aggravated assault - reported in the United States in 2005, up from 1.36 million the previous year.
In Little Rock, the number of violent crimes rose 8 percent in 2005, while the number of property crimes decreased by 1 percent.
In North Little Rock, the violent crime rate rose by 5.5 percent, while the property crime rate rose by 4.5 percent.
Three states bordering Arkansas - Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas - reported decreases in the number of violent crimes reported to police in 2005. In Louisiana, the number of violent crimes reported went down by 6.8 percent, and in Mississippi, there was a 5.1 percent decrease.
The lower figures could be attributed to, in part, Hurricane Katrina.
The storm, which effectively depopulated many portions of the southern coasts of those two states for the last quarter of the year, left police departments struggling to perform emergency functions and gave officers less time to respond to crime calls.
In Missouri, the violent crime rate rose by 8 percent and the increase in Tennessee was 9.2 percent, the FBI report reveals.At a recent crime conference, mayors and police chiefs from across the country cited spikes in violent crime for this year and called for greater support from the federal government.
Many law enforcement and criminal justice professionals say that the federal government's focus on funding for homeland security has drained federal resources that used to go to police agencies.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police in March sent a delegation to Washington to protest a drop in federal funding for law enforcement programs.
In February, the administration released a proposed budget for fiscal 2007 that cut more than $1.1 billion from law enforcement programs, including the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program, the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program at the Department of Justice and the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program (LETPP) at the Department of Homeland Security.
According to a study by the association, the COPS program was cut by $276 million, a decrease of 78 percent, the JAG and LETPP programs were eliminated.
Bradley said the lack of federal assistance has impacted his department.
"There's not a whole lot of grant money that's available to us out of the COPS program," Bradley said. "About the only money out there is for school resource officers.
"But, of course, we've already got school resource officers," the chief said.
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