Jeffrey A. Butts and Howard N. Snyder (2006). Too Soon to Tell: Deciphering Recent Trends in Youth Violence. Chicago, IL: Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.

While violent crime increased slightly between 2004 and 2005, this Chapin Hall issue brief found that the recent increase is small when taken in the context of crime rates over the last 30 years and that predictions of a coming wave of youth crime are premature. Although violent crime rates remain at or near their lowest point since the 1970s, any increase in crime generates concern. Law enforcement organizations have expressed deep concern about a recent rise in violent crime statistics. Some of these concerns are well-founded, but others are exaggerated.