Is Las Vegas becoming a more dangerous place to live? According to new numbers released today, it's getting deadlier every year.
Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears has been sorting through the statistics.
The crime numbers are coming from the FBI in its yearly report released Monday. For the third year in a row, murders are up in Las Vegas. And they're up a lot.
In 2014, 122 people were murdered according to the FBI's report. That's a 60.5 percent increase from 2012, when there were just 76 homicides. There were 97 in 2013. While our population grew during the same time, it wasn't very much, at 3.4 percent.
Police said there isn't any specific scenario that explains the increase and they don't know why there's been a spike. But they will use the data to help fight crime.
"We will shift resources and I can say there's been a big increase in manpower and resources over on Boulder Highway and Tropicana," says Lt. Dan McGrath with the department's Homicide Detail.
"That is a big topic of discussion. There's been a rise of violence and crime over there and several homicides. So immediate shift of resources to an area that is showing a recent spike in violence."
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said they will increase efforts with community based policing.
There have been 94 homicides in the department's jurisdiction so far this year. That's nearly the same as this time last year.
