Violent crime on the rise in the US: FBI

WASHINGTON: Violent crime rose for the second year running in 2006 across the United States, the FBI reported Monday, in a worrying trend overturning more than a decade of successful crime-fighting efforts.   

The annual report released Monday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) showed that violent crime -- murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault -- rose by 1.3 per cent between January and December of 2006, after a 2.3 per cent increase in 2005. Robberies were up a steep six percent.   

However preliminary figures, compiled from law enforcement agencies across the country, found that property crimes -- including burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle thefts -- were down last year by 2.9 per cent.   

The crime data is compiled by law enforcement agencies across the United States, and then submitted to federal authorities for analysis.   

The FBI is due to release more comprehensive crime statistics in September.   

James Fox, a professor at Northeastern University, told ABC News that gangs account for at least part of the increase.   

"Gangs have made a comeback, and they are particularly well organized," he told the television network.   

The 2006 rise came in part from middle-sized cities, including the US capital Washington, criminologists said.   

The crime statistics could prove politically embarrassing for President George W. Bush, who has portrayed himself as tough on crime.   

Democratic Senator Joe Biden, a candidate for the US presidency, wasted no time in wading into the issue.   

"After years of driving crime rates down, we're now in reverse gear," he said late last week, speaking to the Washington Post in advance of the data release.   

"It's time to get back to crime-fighting basics -- that means more cops on the streets, equipped with the tools and resources they need to keep our neighborhoods safe," he said.   

News of rising crime rates comes after last week's announcement by US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales of an administration plan to expand law enforcement task forces to a handful of cities especially hard-hit by violent crime.   

Gonzales, the top US law enforcement official, also announced that police will receive more money and can look forward to tougher laws to combat violent crime in US cities.   

His proposals extend the work of task forces of prosecutors and law enforcement officers at federal, state and local levels to 29 US cities, up from 25.   

"The legislation we have proposed today will make it easier for federal investigators and prosecutors to take dangerous criminals off the streets and put them behind bars for longer," Gonzales said.   

The new law would double the maximum penalty for selling a weapon that will be used in a violent or drug crime; increase penalties for conspiracy; crack down harder on prior felons; extend the statute of limitations on prosecuting violent crime; and create a special category for violent crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.