Mike Levin: “crime in our Nation is increasing. Too often guns are involved. In 2005, our country experienced a surge in murder and…”

“crime in our Nation is increasing. Too often guns are involved. In 2005, our country experienced a surge in murder and robbery rates. Unfortunately, that surge has continued in 2006. The Police Executive Research Forum, a think tank that serves many of the Nations' police departments, examined the murder and robbery statistics of 53 U.S. cities for the first 6 months of this year. In their report, ``A Gathering Storm: Violent Crime in America,'' they report that murder has increased in 26 of the 53 cities, and robberies have increased in 43 of the 53 cities. In Boston, after a 19.6-percent increase in murder in 2005, the first 6 months of 2006 produced another 27.5-percent increase. In Memphis, murder increased 27 percent in 2005 and 43 percent in 2006. Police officials attribute these severe increases to increases in gang activity, violent offenders returning from prison and kids who have easy access to guns. In September, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that in 2005 violent crime increased 2.3 percent, murder and non-negligent manslaughter increased 3.4 percent, robbery increased 3.9 percent, and aggravated assault increased 1.8 percent from 2004. What may be even more dramatic is the fact that these statistics are not exclusive to larger cities. Smaller communities that typically had relatively low amounts of crime have also been affected.”