CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the first time in 13 years, North Carolina's violent crime rate is higher than the national rate.
The FBI said Monday that North Carolina saw a nearly 12% increase in violent crime from 2019 to 2020. FBI data showed more than 44,000 violent crimes were reported in North Carolina last year. Homicides and assaults drove the statewide increase, while robberies and rapes both went down.
"It was the crimes of pure violence," Phillip Cook, a criminologist and retired Duke University professor, said.
Despite the increase in violent crime year over year, the rate is significantly lower than it was in the 1990s.
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