Rural America Suffering ‘Plague’ of Violent Crime, Senate Panel Says

Rural states are suffering a sharp surge in violent crime as the federal government concentrates its drug war efforts on big city streets and drug producing countries, according to a congressional study released Tuesday.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) said the report revealed that “a plague of violent crime, drug trafficking and drug abuse” is sweeping the nation’s less-populated states.

Biden used the occasion to introduce his Rural Crime and Drug Control Act of 1991, which would give an extra $100 million in anti-crime funds to rural states. Since most federal anti-drug and anti-crime money traditionally has been spent in large cities, the measure would greatly increase funding to states with smaller populations.

The incidence of violent crime in Montana increased 23.4% from 1989 to 1990, according to the committee report, which examined the number of murders, rapes, robberies and assaults in states with fewer than 50 residents per square mile.

Some law enforcement officials, however, took issue with the committee findings, noting that the large percentage gains reflected relatively small numerical increases.

Montana Atty. Gen. Marc Racicot said that while the incidence of murders in his state jumped 15% from 1989 to 1990, a seemingly steep increase, the actual number of offenses rose to 30 from 26.

“To say that the rise in crime is at plague levels in Montana . . . I don’t know if I could say that with any degree of confidence,” Racicot said in an interview. “In 1981 we had 41 homicides, so 1989 and 1990, with 26 and 30, were definitely within the realm of normal deviation.”

Some experts say the increase in violent crime reflects the fact that drug networks have made big gains in less populous areas, while rural law enforcement personnel have been hard-pressed and ill-equipped to respond.