El Dorado County Sheriff's Department, which saw reported violent crime
increase 58 percent
By Phillip Reese - Bee Staff Writer
Violent
crime skyrocketed throughout Sacramento County during the first six months of
2006, according to new data from the FBI and the California Department of
Justice. ...
The trend held in Roseville, Placer County and El Dorado County, all of which showed increases in violent crime.
Nationally, violent crime rose 3.7 percent between January and June compared to the first six months of 2005.
And during 2005, violent crime rose 2.2 percent nationally -- the first increase since 2001.
Among the crimes considered violent by the FBI, murders rose by 1.4 percent, felony assaults by 1.2 percent and robberies by a whopping 9.7 percent in 2006, compared to the first six months of 2005. The number of rapes decreased by less than one-tenth of 1 percent.
"We are not at the panic stage yet," said Tim Capron, assistant professor of criminal justice at California State University, Sacramento. "If you look to the early '90s, we are really nowhere near that yet."
But, he added, "if we continue with a strong economy and really low unemployment and we still see an increase in the crime rate, then we do have a problem."
