If there is an increase in the crime rate, then there can be mainly two reasons for that. The first one can be an ineffective police force. Here in India, the cops seems to be more criminal minded than the murderers and rapists, and so the victims are scared to go to the police stations for help. Another reason can be lax punishments. I have read that less than 5% of the rape cases ends up in conviction. Such factors encourages the criminals to carry on with their act.