Indianapolis had 16 homicide victims last month, the deadliest month in an especially deadly year. From 2009 to 2011, Indianapolis touted annual homicide numbers under 100. The city is on pace for about 150, says the Indianapolis Star. The newspaper talked to officials and experts, concluding that ” the homicide statistics don't tell the whole story — or perhaps even the most accurate one.”
Experts say a better measurement of violence is the rate of aggravated assaults and shootings. This year there have been just nine more shootings overall than last year. Aggravated assaults are down by 14.7 percent over a year ago, dropping from 914 to 779. “Most shootings do not result in death, and a slight change in the percentage that end up in deaths will have a dramatic impact on your homicide rate,” said James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University. “The fact that shootings aren't up appreciably confirms the fact that there's nothing going on except bad luck for these victims that didn't survive.”