According to 2016 data from officials in the city of Minneapolis, violent crimes increased a bit in 2016 when compared to 2015. Last year, there were 4,605 violent incidents in the city of Minneapolis, whereas in 2015 there were 4,417 such incidents. That’s a 4.3 percent increase year over year.
Digging deeper into the data, there were 2,274 aggravated assaults in 2016, an increase from the 2,051 that occurred in 2015. Rape and sexual assault arrests also jumped up in 2016 by about 6 percent when compared to 2015.
While it is never good to see these increases in violent crimes, at least the increases are minimal in this case. Still, this does show that there are some societal problems that need to be addressed.
When violent crimes are alleged against an individual, the accused person is at risk of massive legal punishment. They face jail time, serious fines, probation, and a wide range of indirect consequences such as carrying a criminal history (which directly affects your ability to get new housing or a new job) and dealing with restrictions such as an inability to vote or have a driver’s license. It all depends on the specific situation and circumstances of the case, but these are general issues that any accused person will face.
Hopefully violent crimes decrease this year. But the people accused of these crimes still have lives that they care about, and they have rights just like anyone else.
Source: Star Tribune, “Statistics show Minneapolis violent crime edged up in 2016,” Libor Jany, Jan. 4, 2017