(RALEIGH) -- North Carolina's overall crime rate is the lowest since 1977, but law enforcement officials are worried about a 5.9 percent increase in murders across the state. In announcing the statistics on Thursday, Attorney General Roy Cooper did not explain the spike in murders, but said budget cuts are making it more difficult for police to do their jobs.

He said the departments of Justice and Public Safety have lost a combined $31 million in funding.  "I think what this tells us is that we must be vigilant in giving law enforcement the tools to prevent crime, especially to solve violent crimes like murder," said Cooper. "When we invest wisely in law enforcement the result is safer communities.  It takes well trained law enforcement using the latest technology to keep our crime rates low and we need to make sure that they have the tools that they need to do the job."

Large decreases in crime were seen in Charlotte and Greenville. Davidson, Onslow, and Randolph Counties showed significant increases in their crime rates.