US faces wave of murder, violence

ROXBURY: Analicia Perry was kneeling to light a candle at a makeshift shrine to her brother when she was shot in the face and killed — four years to the day after her brother was gunned down on the same spot.

The slaying of the 20-year-old mother — on a narrow street behind a police station in Boston’s poor Roxbury district last month — is one example of a rise in the murder rate across the United States that is raising questions about whether police are fighting terrorism at the expense of crime.

In a shift from trends of the past decade, violent crime is on the rise, fuelling criticism of Bush administration policies as a wave of murders and shootings hits smaller cities and states with little experience with serious urban violence.

From Kansas City, Missouri, to Indianapolis, Indiana, places that rarely attract notice on annual FBI crime surveys are seeing significant increases in murder. Boston, once a model city in America’s battle against gun violence, is poised to eclipse last year’s homicide tally, which was the worst in a decade.

Explanations vary — from softer gun laws to budget cuts, fewer police on the beat, more people in poverty and simple complacency. But many blame a national preoccupation with potential threats from abroad.

“Since Sept 11, much of the resources that were distributed to crime-fighting efforts in Boston and other major cities were redistributed to fight terrorism,” said Jack Levin, director of the Brudnick Centre on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University.

“The feds had supported after-school programs. They had supported placing more police officers in crime hot spots in major cities. These federal efforts were reduced,” he said.