The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program said that homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults increase about 2 percent last year, but that the property-crime rate fell 1.9 percent, the Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 25.

The overall crime rate is at its lowest point in 30 years, and some experts downplayed the increase in violent crime. "To some extent, the rise that we saw this year and last has been because we're at a relative low point," said James Alan Fox, a criminal-justice professor at Northeastern University. "When you're that low, the only way to go is up."

Gang activity and a drop-off in law enforcement -- particularly on guns -- may be contributing to the recent increase in violent crime, added Fox.