San Diego Union-Tribune Murders increase third year in a row, confounding police Trying to decode murder fluctuations is tricky. It’s often difficult to distinguish a statistical anomaly from a more insidious long-term trend, especially over the course of only a few years. “A two- or three-year span doesn’t necessarily indicate the initial phase of a trend,” said Professor Jack Levin, a criminologist who teaches at Northeastern University. […]