murder rate news stories on Newser

Most Peaceful State: Maine

Polly Davis Doig — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:57:14 CDT

Apparently the moose-on-moose violence is next to nil, because Maine has scored the title of most peaceful state in the union, according to a new survey by the Institute for Economics & Peace. It finds the nation as a whole at its most peaceful point in two decades. Louisiana, meanwhile,...

The World's Murder Capital Is ...

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:44:05 CST

Violence in Honduras is so widespread—so steeped in drug cartels and official corruption—that even Mexico and Iraq are safer places to reside. Yes, Honduras boasts the world's worst murder rate: 82.1 murders per 100,000 residents. By comparison, Mexico's is 18.1 and Iraq's only 2 (see...

Peace Corps Exits Honduras

Kate Schwartz — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:12:00 CST

For the first time since 1963, there is no longer a Peace Corps presence in Honduras. All 158 volunteers exited the country yesterday, making good on a move announced in late December by the US group. The decision was made for safety reasons, explained the Corps. To wit, Honduras President...

New Orleans' Problem: How to Stop All the Murders

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:26:06 CST

Choose nearly any line from a New York Times article on murders in New Orleans, and it will depress you: By late last month, the city had seen 175 homicides in 2011—the same as the total number for all of the previous year—and there have been eight more...

Rio de Janeiro Racks Up 60K Unsolved Murders

Sarah Whitmire — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 09:17:59 CDT

Looks like we won't be seeing Law & Order: Rio de Janeiro anytime soon. The Brazilian state has racked up 60,000 murders over the last decade that have gone unsolved and unprosecuted. The number came to light as part of a departmental investigation related to a national plan to...

New Orleans Again US Murder Capital

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:48:02 CDT

New Orleans is once again the US murder capital after briefly losing the title. Fresh FBI statistics show that with 64 killings per 100,000 people in 2008, New Orleans had the highest per-capita murder rate in the country, well ahead of second-place St. Louis, with 47 murders per 100,...