© Mohamed Al-Sayaghi / Reuters
The 62 police departments that provided data for the Major Cities Chiefs Association's midyear crime survey reported 3,081 homicides in the first six months of the year, an increase of 3 percent over the same time last year.
The departments recorded nearly 4,000 more aggravated assaults this year than at the same period in 2016, though reports of other violent crime - including rape, robbery and nonfatal shootings - remained about even.
National crime rates have dropped for two decades and remain far below peaks reached in the early 1990s, but violence in some of the country's biggest cities has drawn attention to the problem.
The Trump administration says it takes the numbers seriously.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions repeatedly cited statistics showing a rise in crime as he announced Justice Department initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence, illegal drug sales or combating gangs. He recently called on law enforcement leaders to help "reverse this new surge in violent crime."
