Criminal Justice
FBI: Violent Crime Up in 2006
For the second year in a row, violent crime in the U.S. increased in 2006, according to the FBI.
There were 17,000 murders nationwide, of which about 90 percent occurred in urban areas. Some 70 percent of those murdered were killed with firearms, reports Reuters.
In total, there were an estimated 1.4 million violent crimes in 2006, up about 2 percent from 2005. Murders also were up about 2 percent. More statistics are provided by the 2006 FBI Uniform Crime Report.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department blamed the increase on guns, gangs and youthful violence, writes the Associated Press.
