By Donna King
Raleigh, NC – North Carolina’s larger cities are grappling with a surge in violent crime, according to data released by North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation this month. The state’s crime statistics show a statewide overall o.1% decrease in reported violent crimes, but in cities like Charlotte, Raleigh, and Wilmington, there’s been a steep increase. Carjackings specifically saw significant jumps, with a 38% increase year over year.
“The rate per 100,000 people of Crime Index offenses reported to law enforcement agencies throughout North Carolina increased 2.3 percent during 2023 when compared to the figures reported in 2022,” the SBI report reads. “The rate of violent crime (which includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) decreased 0.1 percent statewide.”
In the report’s decadelong view, 2023 saw the state’s murder rate spike 72% compared to 2013. The rise in crime has sparked growing concern among lawmakers, law enforcement, and the public about the impact on community safety.
According to the State Bureau of Investigation report, North Carolina’s largest cities saw double-digit increases in violent crime from 2022 to 2023. Crime in Charlotte jumped by 13%, while Raleigh and Wilmington saw similar spikes, with 13% and 21% increases, respectively. Even smaller cities, such as Cary and Greenville, have not been spared, experiencing rises of 15% and 14%. Property crime is also on the rise, with thefts and burglaries becoming more common.
Crime Data Raises Transparency Concerns
Crime rates are also up across the country. In a recent revision of crime statistics, the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed that it had initially underreported nearly 1,700 murders in a 2022 report, sparking doubts about the accuracy of national crime data. According to a report by the Crime Prevention Research Center, the missed murders were discovered during a revision of the FBI’s annual crime data and indicate a 4.5% increase in the murder rate nationally in 2021.
The discrepancy was widely criticized. The FBI says that it was largely due to the agency’s switchover to the National Incident-Based Reporting System, implemented in 2021, but initially only encompassing between 65% and 75% of communities’ data. Notable cities submitting their data later or in part include Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami-Dade, San Jose, San Francisco, Omaha, Oakland, Pittsburgh, and Raleigh, according to an explanation from crime data expert Jeff Asher.
“Accurate and transparent data is very important,”said Jon Guze, senior fellow for legal studies at the John Locke Foundation and author of the Solving North Carolina’s Crime Problem project. “Good data helps policymakers decide when and where more police officers are needed. It also helps them decide which law-enforcement policies are working and which need to be revised. Fortunately, compared to many states, North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation does a good job of providing accurate, transparent, and timely data.”
However lacking, the FBI’s initial report was used on the campaign trail as an indication of dropping crime, even coming up in the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, in which Trump was “fact-checked” by moderators for highlighting rising crime.
Public safety is becoming an increasingly prominent issue in political debates, fueling arguments that underreported statistics undermine efforts to address the growing problem. In North Carolina, those climbing crime rates are central to the race for attorney general as Republican Congressman Dan Bishop seeks the office, running against Democratic Congressman Jeff Jackson.
“Woke, soft-on-crime policies continue to make North Carolina less safe, and woke, soft-on-crime Jeff Jackson wouldn’t change a thing,” said Dan Bishop in a press statement on the SBI’s data release. “He supports open borders and opposes stronger penalties for violent crimes. Meanwhile, ‘fact checkers’ are quibbling over whether rapes went up 47% or 53%. This madness has got to end.”
As of publication, Jackson’s campaign did not respond to emailed requests for comment on the SBI crime data, or make a social media statement on the reported increase. Jackson does have an ad out highlighting his time as an assistant district attorney in Gaston County.
North Carolina cities’ Rising Violent Crime
Bishop argues that the state’s crime wave is exacerbated by lenient border policies. A vocal critic of the Biden administration’s rollback of Trump-era border policies, Bishop recently highlighted the case of Eleazer Mujica-Rojas, an alleged Venezuelan gang leader who was arrested in North Carolina after entering the country illegally. Mujica-Rojas was wanted for violent crimes in Venezuela.
Bishop also has an ad out now on the state’s handling of violent crime, under current Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat running for governor. In the ad, Bishop calls for tougher penalties and more aggressive law enforcement efforts to deter criminals, especially those involved in gang activities and illegal immigration.
“Murders and rapes have skyrocketed in North Carolina over the past decade, and now an apparent illegal immigrant and violent gang leader was roaming around North Carolina,” said Bishop in a release Tuesday. “Jeff Jackson’s reckless support for woke policies like open borders and lower penalties for violent crimes will not make North Carolina safe again.”
The debate over immigration and crime continues to dominate political discourse in the lead-up to the election, as citizens and policymakers search for solutions to stem the tide of violence. It is a complex challenge: balancing effective crime prevention strategies with accurate data reporting.
“The best way to combat rising crime rates and keep North Carolinians safe is what I call ‘intensive community policing,‘ i.e., the strategic deployment of large numbers of well-paid, well-trained, and well-managed police officers in high-crime, high-disorder neighborhoods,” said Guze.