O.J. was on meth.

I knew there had to be a reason that an otherwise perfectly reasonable and non-violent man would do something as dastardly as enter the Palace Station.

Our violent crime rate rose sharply over the last year. In all fairness to us, half of that rise was related to random O.J. visits, and Bistro Buffet-fueled armed robberies by George Maloof’s pig.

How do you think the pig keeps coming up with $7.99? He obviously has no job, he’s a frigging pig! Nobody would hire a pig. Okay, maybe Harrahs, but it would be treason for the pig to work for another casino.

And since George likes him, the pig keeps getting out on bail.

(sorry, the pig was getting ready to drop from the front page and I needed a way to get him back to the top)

I remember remarking a couple of months ago that it seemed to me that crime was spiking around town. I got several nasty emails after this comment I made in July … most likely from people who don’t live here, or who live in the outer suburbs.

“There is a lot of weird �??thug�?� shit going on lately. Even on The Strip occasionally.

You have all likely seen videos of the numerous �??swarm beatings�?� that have occurred, from the MGM employee being beat by 10 kids, to beatings in parking lots and convenience stores all over Vegas.

I don�??t know (or care) what the stats are �?� from simple personal experience, it seems like �??thug life�?� is ramping up again.”

After getting berated ad nauseum for my statement, we have had a couple of high-profile thug shootings on The Strip, and apparently now even the stats agree with my perception.

Our violent crime rate has risen by 32 times the national average.

So much for the theory that I overstated the problem.

For whatever reason, they are blaming most of it on meth.

I personally don’t think it has much to do with meth at all. Some of it, sure, but nowhere near all of it. Meth has been around for a long time. I don’t think 32 times as many people as before just decided to take it up in the last year. But it’s a convenient scapegoat I suppose.

Meth crime sprees sure sound better than: The police department concentrates on collecting taxes by spending the day conducting “routine traffic stops” while remaining painfully oblivious to actual crime.

You think if our crime was up that much, that these “selective traffic enforcements” would be put on the back burner, no?

There is a supposed “War on Meth” going on in the Las Vegas Valley right now (clearly being lost, so let’s throw more money at it), and in order to keep the budgets flowing … it makes perfect sense to blame everything on meth. It also takes some of the blame away from those who are tasked to prevent said crime.

“It wasn’t our fault, Meth did it!” (while we were busy ticketing the 49cc scooter on Maryland Pkwy)

Frankly, I don’t think there is a huge rise in Meth crime. I think there has just been a huge rise in assholes.

Anyway, read it and weep:

Police in southern Nevada traced a spike in violent crime last year to the rise in the methamphetamine trade.

“All of the law enforcement agencies in the valley have seen the methamphetamine problem drive robberies, aggravated assaults, car burglaries and thefts,” Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said.

Las Vegas police reported a 32.2 percent rise in violent crimes in the city and unincorporated Clark County in 2006, according to FBI statistics released Monday. Henderson had a 31.9 percent increase in the categories of murder, rape, robbery and assault, and North Las Vegas police reported a 12.4 percent rise.

The numbers far exceeded the 1 percent national increase in violent crime rate per 100,000 residents, and showed crime rates continuing a two-year upward trend since 2004.

“A lot of big cities in America are seeing the same challenge,” said Sheriff Doug Gillespie, who heads the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. “We see a younger, more violent segment of our society that is quicker to resort to violence.”

Nationally, murders in 2006 increased by 1.8 percent over the previous year. In cities of more than 1 million people, however, murders jumped by 6.8 percent. The number of robberies and arson also rose, while the number of rapes and car thefts dropped, FBI data show.

All three departments also recorded nearly double the national rate of auto thefts, although each improved slightly from 2005.

Las Vegas police saw armed robbery rates skyrocket 50 percent and the aggravated assault rate climb more than 23 percent. Rapes rose nearly 14 percent, and homicides were up about 2 percent.

In Henderson, rates for all major crimes except auto theft were below the national average for cities its size.

In North Las Vegas, violent crime rates surpassed those of similar-sized departments across the country. Police spokesman Sean Walker said the data could be tied to the city’s status as one of the fastest growing in the nation.

“We’re having a lot of people move to our city, and it creates more opportunities for people to be victimized,” Walker said.

Property crime rates in North Las Vegas were mixed, with burglaries well above the national average but thefts far below.