The Bismarck Police Department is setting the record straight on a reported increase in violent crime from 2009 to 2013.
A story originally posted on the website 247wallstreet.com claims the violent crime rate in Bismarck North Dakota grew by nearly 160% from 2009 to 2013.
According to the Bismarck Police Department the real increase in violent crime is 14.3%.
The Bismarck Police Department has reached out to the authors of the original article, looking for an explanation, but has not received a reply. The article has been republished on huffingtonpost.com and usatoday.com.
The Bismarck Police Department reports its annual crime statistics to the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office, who in turns reports them to the FBI. There may be slight differences in numbers based on the three different agencies’ reporting methodologies.
In the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. According to the FBI’s crime statistics for the City of Bismarck, ND:

Year Pop. Violent Crime Violent Crime / 100,000 pop.
2009 60,923 157 257.70
2013 65,850 194 294.61

During this period there was an 8.09% increase in population and 14.3% increase in violent crime, not even close to the 160% increase reported in these articles. The Bismarck Police Department will be asking for retractions.

Sources for this information are:
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/tables/table-8/table-8-state-cuts/table_8_offenses_known_to_law_enforcement_north_dakota_by_city_2013.xls
http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/data/table_08_nd.html