It’s official: Murder rose across the U.S. last year at the fastest pace since 1990, according to data released by the FBI on Monday. There were an estimated 15,696 murders1 in 2015, 1,532 more than in 2014 and the most recorded in a calendar year since 2008. The increase isn’t a surprise; other reports, based on partial data, have shown the same trend. But Monday’s report provides the first reliable, nationwide figures on an issue that has emerged as a major topic in this year’s presidential campaign. Donald Trump has cited rising murder rates in major U.S. cities as evidence that criminal-justice reform efforts, such as the pullback of “stop and frisk” policing in New York and other cities, are failing.
