Even before spate of shootings, Seattle violent crime rate on the rise

While Seattle is reeling from a string of shootings in
recent months, the FBI reports the city’s violent crime in
increased in 2011, compared with the previous year.

In new statistics released Monday, all violent crime, which
includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault,
increased from 3,515 incidents in 2010 to 3,664 last year.

The murder rate stayed virtually unchanged, with 20
homicides in 2011 compared with 19 in Seattle the year
before. However, the city has already seen 21 murders in
the first five months of 2012.

There was some better news in the report: Property crimes
including burglary, larceny/theft and car thefts decreased
from 33,186 in 2010 to 31,792 in 2011.

You can view a chart of crime stats for Seattle, Bellevue,
Everett, Tacoma, Spokane and Vancouver here.