US violent crime up in annual FBI report

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – The U.S. saw a moderate bump in violent crime in 2015, but that was far short of recent highs, according to an annual FBI report released Monday.

That marks the first uptick in violent crime in three years.

The bureau said violent crime rose 3.9 percent year on year, but that figure is 0.7 percent lower than 2011 and, 16.5 percent lower than 2006.

Firearms were used in more than 70 percent of the 15,696 murders in 2015. There were also 90,185 rapes last year.

All property crime in the U.S., down 2.6 percent, caused losses totaling $14.3 billion. Theft accounted for the bulk of that total with $12 billion in damages.

The data used by the FBI is collected from various local and state agencies.

The disclosures come as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump prepares to compete with Democratic contended Hillary Clinton in their first nationally televised debate.

Trump has long maintained that America is less secure than it was when President Barack Obama assumed office in 2009, in part due to an alleged uptick in crime fueled by illegal migration.

During what was a surreal opening to his campaign, Trump blamed Mexico for the alleged spike, saying that country’s migrants in the U.S. are not “their best.

"They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists,” he said, eliciting widespread condemnation.

Trump later changed his comments, saying he was referring to illegal immigrants.

The issue will likely be a flashpoint later Monday as Clinton seeks to push back on his allegations.

Clinton served as Obama's secretary of state during his first term and Trump has sought to paint a potential Clinton presidency as four more years of the same policies.