WASHINGTON — The nation’s violent crime rate rose again in 2016, with murder up sharply, according to data released Monday by the FBI.
Property crimes, including burglary and car theft, dropped for the 14th consecutive year, the FBI said in its annual report, “Crime in the United States.”
A total of 17,250 murders were reported, an increase of 8.6 percent from 2015. The murder rate, or the number of offenses per 100,000 people, was 7.9 percent. Overall, total violent crimes were up 4.1 percent.
Though the year-to-year comparison showed an increase in violent crime, the FBI said it was down 12 percent from 10 years earlier.
“For the sake of all Americans, we must confront and turn back the rising tide of violent crime. And we must do it together,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has made crime-fighting a centerpiece of his tenure.
A Justice Department statement on the new figures said they reaffirm that “the worrying violent crime increase that began in 2015 after many years of decline was not an isolated incident.”
The overall increase in the violent crime rate, 3.4 percent, was the biggest annual rise in 25 years, DOJ said.