Study: Mass Killings Not On The Rise

Robert Pratt

Did you see the story  from CBS-Chicago about research by a University of Illinois professor which reported:

“Contrary to what you might think, mass murders are not on the rise, according to computer science professor Sheldon Jacobson.”

“The data doesn’t lie. The rate of these events just is not increasing as the perception is given in the media. This is just what it is,” professor Jacobson told CBS.

“The professor used a decade’s worth of data from USA Today that was cross-checked by the FBI. He said his analysis also found public shooting sprees like the Las Vegas massacre are not the most common type of mass killing.

“Family mass killings are over three times more likely to occur than a public killing. So what we just saw in Las Vegas is actually not the most common type of mass killing,” Jacobson said.

“Jacobson said the research, which is being published in the journal Violence and Victims, shows you can’t predict a mass murder based on information from an earlier one.

“He said, because they’re so unpredictable, the best way to prepare for something like that is not to station police officers in all public places, but to train them really well in rapid response,” concluded Jacobson in his interview with CBS.

This issue is like weather, many people always seem to think it’s never been as wild or extreme before and yet often times the things to which they refer have happened repeatedly, even in their lifetimes.

I’m sure there is a branch of study focused upon what people think happens compared to what actually has happened. I’m not sure what the word is for such study but it seems a boundless field of endeavor.