Northeastern University Study Reveals Murders Among Black Youths Have Risen Sharply Since 2000

I have always been very vocal and critical of the high crime rate within pockets of the black community in cities across the United States. I was not surprised to see the results of a study by criminologists at Northeastern University in Boston. The study, to be released Monday, found that the number of young black men and teenagers who either killed or were killed in shootings has risen at an alarming rate since 2000.

The study found dramatic increases in shooting deaths among black teenagers. Last year, for example, 426 black males between the ages of 14 and 17 were killed in gun crimes, the study shows. That marked a 40 percent increase from 2000. Similarly, an estimated 964 in the same age group committed fatal shootings in 2007 -- a 38 percent increase from seven years earlier. The number of offenders is estimated because not all crimes are reported, said Northeastern criminologist James Alan Fox, who co-authored the study.

"Although the overall rate of homicide in the United States remains relatively low, the landscape is quite different for countless Americans living, and some dying, in violence-infested neighborhoods," Fox said. Seizing on President-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration as an opportunity for more funding, Fox added: "There is an urgency for reinvestment in children and families. In essence, we need a bailout for kids at risk."

The study partly blamed Bush administration grant cuts to local police and juvenile crime prevention programs for the surge in crimes by young black men and teens. Incoming Vice President Joe Biden has promised funding to put 50,000 new police officers on the street to help bring violent crime rates back to a decade-long annual decline that began in the mid-1990s, after then-President Bill Clinton provided local officials with money to hire 100,000 new cops.

Nationwide, the number of murders and violent crimes overall dropped last year after increasing in 2005 and 2006, according to annual data compiled by the FBI. Overall, however, murders have risen by about 8 percent between 2000 and 2007. The FBI reported 10,067 arrests in murder and non-negligent manslaughter cases in 2007. Half of the people arrested - 5,078 - were black. Almost 10 percent of black people arrested for murder were under age 18, the FBI data show. Source: The Huffington Post

This is alarming and we must take back our communities from the thugs that roam the inner city streets. We must also not give up on the young people. Something drastic must be done to get them off the streets. There should be stricter gun laws. It is unconscionable that the thugs on the streets have more sophisticated firearms than the police officers. There must be zero tolerance for criminal behavior. You can't let a repeat offender back out on the street with just a slap on the wrist. The recidivism rate is often high. There is no justification for this alarming pattern of behavior and something drastic must be done and quickly. The politicians need to start visiting these high crime areas more frequently and not just when they are up for re-election.