Archives for August 2016

According to FBI reports, property crimes were down in the first half of 2015 over the prior year, but violent crimes increased in three of the United States’ four regions — with medium-sized cities taking the biggest hit. Violent crimes saw increases of 1.4 percent in the Midwest, 1.6 percent in the South and 5.6 percent in the West. In the Northeast, though, violent crimes dropped by 3.2 percent.

The FBI compiled the new numbers in the FBI reports based on data from thousands of law enforcement agencies.

In the country as a whole, rapes were up by 9.6 percent, and murders increased by more than 6 percent. Medium-sized cities were hit hardest by the increase — violent crimes were up by more than 5 percent in cities with 250,000 to 499,999 inhabitants. Violent crime decreased slightly in both smaller and larger cities for the period.

FBI Reports: Burglaries, Larcenies Down

Property crimes showed the opposite trend from violent crimes during the first six months of 2015, according to the FBI reports. Larcenies were down more than 3 percent, while burglaries dropped by nearly 10 percent. In the property crime category, the only increase was in thefts of motor vehicles, up by 1 percent.

Every city population group experienced a decrease in property crimes overall. The biggest drop — more than 7 percent — was for small cities with fewer than 10,000 residents. Of the four regions in the country, only the West had an increase in property crimes: 2.4 percent.

Most Dangerous Cities?

Another recent report provides additional details about the increase in violent crime in medium-sized cities. According to the NeighborhoodScout annual ranking of the nation’s most dangerous cities, East St. Louis, Illinois, and Camden, New Jersey, ranked first and second in the number of violent crimes per 1,000 residents.

The ranking considers cities with populations over 25,000 and violent crimes including rape, murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery. The survey uses FBI reports data to calculate the rankings.

While the list includes some large cities like Miami and Washington, D.C., other major cities — notably Boston, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles — didn’t break the top 100 in violent crimes. Both the recent numbers in the FBI reports and the NeighborhoodScout rankings are based on relatively short time periods — six months and one year, respectively. Time will tell whether the increase in violent crime in mid-sized cities is simply a blip or a long-term trend that warrants further analysis.

Source: https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-preliminary-semiannual-crime-statistics-for-2015

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Diversity in the workplace is a good thing. When interviewing, you obviously need someone who fits the requirements of the job, but you have to be careful with the interview questions you ask so as not to approach any topics which could potentially lead to discriminatory behavior. Something which you might think is an innocent interview question to get to know someone could potentially approach a subject which is taboo. There are interview questions that employers and human resource professionals should definitely avoid.

Here are some interview questions you should avoid:

• Do you have any children? How many children do you have? Are your children in child care?
• Are you married?
• How old are you?
• What type of discharge did you receive from the military?
• What church do you belong to? What is your religion?
• Do you have any medical conditions we should know about?
• How many sick days did you use last year?

The gray area is the most difficult to deal with. You are asking the interview questions as part of a more casual conversation in the job applicant, but a potential answer that could be given could take things in a direction that could lead to a claim of discrimination.

“What’s your favorite book?” sounds like an innocent interview question but if they answer that they read the Bible or Koran every night, there is the potential for a discrimination claim if they didn’t get the job.

“What associations do you belong to?” is a similar question. If they answer something about the JCC or the Knights of Columbus, or even AARP or some cancer survivor organization, you’re just asking for trouble.

Stay away from interview questions that are associated with race, gender, age, religion, color, national origin, or disability, among many other topics. There are certain federal laws that protect employees and job applicants from being discriminated against. These laws are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

If all the all the questions are not directly related to the applicant’s ability to do the job, they are most likely, not appropriate as interview questions.

Disclaimer: The information on InstantCriminalChecks.com is governed by our Terms of Use and is never intended as legal advice.