Police are fighting terrorism at the expense of street crime

Many U.S. cities are struggling to stem a wave of violent crime and murder that has raised questions of whether police are fighting terrorism at the expense of street crime, and whether a widening wealth gap feeds the problem.
Criminologists are worried. Federal Bureau of Investigation data shows murders and shootings hitting smaller cities and states with little experience of serious urban violence. The last similar period of volatility was right before the big crime wave of the 1980s and 1990s.
Explanations vary -- from softer gun laws to budget cuts, fewer police on the beat, more people in poverty, expanding gang violence and simple complacency. But many blame a national preoccupation with potential threats from overseas since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Some police departments have seen staff reduced as police officers fight in Iraq, while resources that could be used to fight street crime get channeled into security at airports and other transit points seen as vulnerable after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The FBI's latest report, in December, showed violent crime up 3.7 percent in the first six months of 2006 after gaining 2.3 percent in 2005 -- the first rise in four years. Robbery, an important indicator of crime trends, was up nearly 10 percent.