After a long period of decline, violent crimes are again becoming a problem for the United States.

Last year, 15,890 Americans became victims of violent crime each day. The rate of violent victimization increased 17% in urban areas from 2010 to 2011. According to Justice Department statistics, aggravated and simple assault accounted for the entire rise in total violence. There was also an 11% jump in property crimes during the same period.

Writing at The Crime Report, Mai Fernandez, the executive director of The National Center for Victims of Crime, suggests that the new Criminal Victimization 2011 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics represents “a wakeup call” for policymakers.

It’s also time for the government to devote more resources to helping crime victims, Fernandez argues.

“Although our nation spends hundreds of billions of dollars on our legal, criminal justice, and corrections systems, only a fraction (less than one-half of one percent) of that amount is spent on crime victim compensation, victim assistance, and federal technical assistance programs,” she wrote.

“As a result, victims are left to absorb most of the financial impact of crime themselves.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Crime Victims Deserve More Support (by Mai Fernandez, Crime Report)

Criminal Victimization, 2011 (by Jennifer L. Truman and Michael Planty, Bureau of Justice Statistics) (pdf)

More than 3 Million Violent Crimes in U.S. go Unreported Every Year (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)