Homicide rate in South Hampton Road is cut in half

The homicide rate in South Hampton Roads is half what it was in the early 1990s, mirroring a broader trend that has pushed the nation's homicide rate to its lowest level in more than four decades.

A new Department of Justice report highlights sharp declines in homicides over the past 20 years, particularly in urban areas. The nation's homicide rate fell to 4.8 per 100,000 residents in 2010, the lowest level since the mid-1960s, according to data from the federal report.

Norfolk's homicide rate dropped by 55 percent since 1991. Portsmouth police last year investigated half as many homicides, 14, compared with typical years in the early 1990s, when homicides peaked at 36. Suburban and rural communities in the region saw steady, less drastic declines over that period.

Despite the drop, polls indicate a growing number of Americans believe crime is on the rise both nationally and in their own neighborhoods.

More than 68 percent of Americans think crime is worse now than it was a year ago, according to a recent Gallup survey. The polling firm recorded similarly pessimistic results each of the past 20 years, despite generally consistent declines in crime.

The disconnect between perception and reality is repeated locally, said Jim Koch, an Old Dominion University economics professor who has studied how media coverage of crime affects how people view their community. The drop, he said, "flies in the face of what people believe based on their perceptions and what they see each night on the evening news."

More than a quarter of local television news stories focus on crime, according to ODU's State of the Region report, released last month. Further, some viewers spend the night taking in violent police dramas, Koch said. "It's easy to see why they might have this perception that crime is worse than ever."

Some experts believed the recession would lead to a spike in crime, but the downward trend has continued both nationally and locally, according to the FBI's annual Unified Crime Report. Violent crime was down 6 percent in 2010, the fourth straight yearly decline, according to the federal data.

Graham Ousey, a sociology professor at the College of William and Mary, said it's unclear what has caused crime to drop. He cited myriad possible factors, including a calming of crack cocaine markets, higher incarceration rates and shifting demographics.

The aging of the population might be driving murders down, research has shown. Fewer people in their late teens to early 20s - the nation's most crime-prone age group - means fewer offenses.

Some social scientists have argued that people are simply becoming nicer, although there's no empirical evidence to support the claim. Others, including Ousey, said harsher sentencing and smarter policing tactics might be factors.

Norfolk police spokesman Chris Amos acknowledged the declines in violent crime over the past two decades but said leaders in the agency are hesitant to take credit.

"We've certainly tried to make progress in the right direction," Amos said. "But we don't thump our chests when crime is down."

Mike Hixenbaugh, (757) 222-5117, mike.hixenbaugh@pilotonline.com

____

Charts | Homicide rates in South Hampton Roads

A Department of Justice report highlights sharp declines in homicides in the past two decades. South Hampton Roads followed the trend: Homicides are down 56 percent from a high in the early 1990s.

• Murder Rate
• Number of Murders

Sources: FBI Uniform Crime Reports, prepared by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data.
A break in a line indicates data missing or incomplete for that city.

Read More @ Source

Criminal Stories Here