The sad events at Fort Hood have caused some to review the general “crime rate” within the military. Slate’s Daniel Engber has this short piece.
Is There a Lot of Crime on Military Bases?Not as much as you’d think.
That said, major crimes have been in on the rise across all bases since 2003, according to a report (PDF) released in July. Rates of arrests for murder, rape, assault, and arson saw an especially large bump between 2007 and 2008. The study, which was commissioned after six members of the same brigade were charged with homicides over a 12-month period, found that soldiers with more combat experience—and whose units had suffered more casualties—were at greater risk than other soldiers of developing mental illness, conduct problems, and criminal behavior.