Historical data shows violent crime is not at an all-time high — neither in North Carolina nor in the U.S. The overall rate of violent crime still falls far short of records from the early 1990s.
The FBI considers four specific offenses to be violent crimes because they involve force or the threat of force: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The bureau calculates a rate of violent crime by looking at the number of reported cases per 100,000 people.
Violent crime rates calculated for 2020 and 2019, the most recent years available, fall well short of high rates documented in the early 1990s. In 2020, there were 398.5 violent crimes per 100,000 people in the U.S. and about 419.3 cases per 100,000 people in North Carolina. That was based on data received from nearly 16,000 of 18,623 law enforcement agencies. InViolent crime rates in the U.S. peaked at about 758 cases per 100,000 people in 1991 and 1992, according todating back to 1985.
Violent crime was higher in the late 1980s and early 1990s in part because of the proliferation of crack cocaine, said James Alan Fox, a professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy at Northeastern University. "It was the trafficking that was extremely competitive and violent. And the gangs were ruling the roost," Fox said in a phone interview."We don't know what the statistics will be for 2022, but there's no way they’re going to be higher than they were back then."
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