Since the 1990s, crime rates in the United States have remained relatively low though with a few instances of deviation with increase in crimes. Many criminologists and agencies such as the FBI have attributed this downward trend in crime rates in the US to factors such as improved policing strategies, an enlarged law enforcement and enhanced crime surveillance technologies (Schmalleger 152). However, according to the2012 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) report authored by Truman, Langton and Planty, “in 2012, for the second consecutive year, violent and property crime rates increased for US” (Truman, Langton & Planty 1). According to this report, there was increase in simple assault, thefts and the overall violent victimization for crimes that the police received.
Moreover, the FBI’s 2012 Uniform Crime Report there was a general increase in crime though insignificantly compared to the earlier years. The information from these sources indicate that over the past twenty years, crime rates have been dropping but since the year 2009, the crime rates particularly violent crime rates experienced an upward trend. The NCVS report, for instance, indicates that there was a decline in homicide rates by 48 percent between 1993 and 2011 though there was np significant change in gun related violence. The report also indicates that the violent crime compostion remained stable between 1993 and 2012(Truman, Langton & Planty 6). Therefore, the 2011-2012 period represents a variation in crime rates and a break from the past hence meaning that the future does not hold good for the US crime rates.
Furthermore, according to Cook and Watson, the implication of these crime rates and trends for the US is that there is likely to be an increase in rates of crimes in the years to come if more proactive steps are not taken to reverse this trend (187). It thus means that what the future holds for crime rates trends in the United States is that there should be crime policy change to be able to deal more effectively with violent crimes.
Works Cited
Cook, Steve and Duncan Watson. "Breaks and convergence in U.S. regional crime rates: Analysis of their presence and implications." Social Sciences Journal 2 (2013): 180-190. Print.
Schmalleger, Frank. Criminal justice: A brief introduction. New York: Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.
Truman, Jennifer, Lynn Langton and Michael Planty. Criminal victimization, 2012. Crime Rates. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics/The National Crime Victimization Survey, 2013. Web. 13 July 2016. <http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv12.pdf>.
