This is becoming far too common. We have to rise up to stop it.
From Fox News. Crime has risen in major cities nationwide in recent years as many police departments fight staffing shortages, and critics blame some liberal district attorneys for loosening criminal punishments.
Let the IFA community know how to pray for you.
But while the violent crime rates of major cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles repeatedly make headlines, such crime has also increased in some mid-sized cities that do not feature so prominently in national news.
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city with a population of nearly 300,000 people, spends much of its winter days engulfed in darkness. The city is also steeped in crime problems, continuously ranking among the top 10 most violent cities in the U.S.
Despite a downward trend from 2019 to 2021 in emergency calls reporting assaults, that number climbed again from 2,404 during the first three quarters of 2021 to 2,574 during the same period in 2022, according to statistics from the Anchorage Police Department.
Calls reporting sexual assault dipped from 460 to 442, and while the 352 robbery calls surpassed the 311 during the first three quarters of 2021, they did not meet the 423 recorded both in 2020 and 2019.
The opioid crisis has also made its way up to the northernmost state, where overdose deaths have been surging since 2018.
During the first three months of 2022 alone, law enforcement in Alaska seized more than 1,200 grams of fentanyl, which is more than double than all they seized in 2021. …
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city with approximately 565,000 people as of the 2020 census, set a new record with 117 homicide victims this year, according to the most recent data provided to Fox News Digital from the Albuquerque Police Department. …
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee, which boasts the highest population of any city in the state with more than 692,000 people, has also been suffering from crime.
America’s famed Music City, whose 40-member Metropolitan City Council is third-largest in the U.S. behind New York and Chicago, had 8,583 reported violent crimes in 2021, an increase of 4.07% over 2020, according to Metro Nashville Police data. Much of the increase can be attributed to rape and aggravated assaults.
The tourist-popular Broadway area of downtown Nashville especially has been a hub of rising assaults, harassment and aggressive panhandling in recent years, which prompted the city last spring to announce that it was working on a plan to tackle issues surrounding homelessness, according to local Fox affiliate WZTV. …
Tennessee ranked near the top of the list for violent crime last year, according to FBI crime statistics — surpassed only by nearby Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana. …
Asheville, North Carolina
A historic tourist town of approximately 90,000 people tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Asheville has seen rising rates of violent crime in recent years, much of which is because of aggravated assaults.
Violent crime rose 31% per 100,000 people from 2016 to 2020 in the city, nearly double the national average and 18 percentage points higher than North Carolina’s 13% statewide increase during the same period.
The Asheville Police Department (APD) released new statistics in September that showed such trends have continued, increasing 34% year-to-date compared to last year and 29% over 2020.
Both the APD and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office have meanwhile been hemorrhaging officers, with APD Chief David Zack telling Fox News Digital in September that his department is straining to operate at nearly 42% down every day. …
New Orleans, Louisiana
Famous for its nightlife, music and cuisine, New Orleans also earned notoriety earlier this year when it surpassed St. Louis as the murder capital of the U.S.
According to a report released in September by the crime-tracking organization Metropolitan Crime Commission, homicides in the Big Easy were up 44% year-to-date compared with 2021, tying with armed robbery for largest increase since last year. 2022 marked the city’s bloodiest year since Hurricane Katrina ravaged it in 2005. …
How are you praying for safety in our cities? Share your prayers and scriptures below.
(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Canva)