HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
The FBI released its annual uniform crime report.
According to the report, violent crime is up nearly 30 percent. This is based on 2011 numbers, and this is only the preliminary report.
In 2010, Huntsville Police reported 1,182 violent crimes. In 2011, that number grew to 1,521 violent crimes. That's an increase of nearly 350 reports.
Montgomery, Mobile, and Birmingham police departments are also included in the report.
Only cities that have more than 100,000 are tracked.
Huntsville Police admit they've had an increase in violent crime, but they call the numbers the FBI report released very misleading.
Huntsville Police said the report added more than 70 additional categories that in years past had never accounted as violent crimes.
They said the increase is closer to four percent.
Regardless, they said 1500 is still too many, and they're working on bringing that number down and making Huntsville as safe as possible.
"We're asking for more community involvement," said Captain Sherry Jackson with the Huntsville Police Department. "There are different types of initiatives in communities around the city. Each precinct attacks their own problems in their area because the problems may be different from one precinct to another."
Tracking the crime statistics goes all the way back to at least the 1970's.
The 2012 numbers won't be available for another year.
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The violent crime rate in Huntsville is up from the previous year, according to the annual FBI crime report.
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