FBI Reports Violent Crime Down in 2009

The Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2009 is available from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Preliminary figures indicate that, as a whole, law enforcement agencies throughout the Nation reported a decrease of 5.5 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to their attention for 2009 when compared with figures reported for 2008. The violent crime category includes murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The number of property crimes in the United States in 2009 decreased 4.9 percent when compared with data from 2008. Property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. Arson is also a property crime, but data for arson are not included in property crime totals. Figures for 2009 indicate that arson decreased 10.4 percent when compared to 2008 figures.

The AP posts, "FBI says violent crime rate down again," via Google News.

The violent crime rate in the United States went down in 2009 for the third year in a row and the property crime rate fell for the seventh consecutive year, the FBI reported Monday.

The decline last year amounted to 5.5 percent for violent crime compared to 2008 and the rate for property crime was down 4.9 percent.

The FBI collected the crime data from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies around the country.

According to the numbers, all four categories of violent crime declined compared to 2008 — robbery, murder, aggravated assault and forcible rape.

Violent crime in the South fell by 6.6 percent, dropped 5.6 percent in the West, declined 4.6 percent in the Midwest and went down 3.5 percent in the Northeast.

Violent crime declined 4 percent in metropolitan counties and 3 percent elsewhere, the FBI reported.

Nationwide, the murder rate was down 7.2 percent last year.

The largest decrease in murders — 7.5 percent — took place in cities of half a million to a million in population. The only increase in murders — 5.3 percent — occurred in cities with 25,000 to 50,000 people.

Charlie Savage writes, "U.S. Crime Rates Fell Despite Economy," for the New York Times.

Compared with 2008, violent crimes declined by 5.5 percent last year, and property crimes decreased 4.9 percent, according to the F.B.I.’s preliminary annual crime report. There was an overall decline in reported crimes for the third straight year; the last increase was in 2006.

The bureau’s figures are compiled from data voluntarily submitted by 13,237 local and state law enforcement agencies across the country, and measure the number of offenses reported to the authorities. A bureau spokesman declined to speculate about any explanation for the trend.

Violent crimes — like murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault — fell in cities and rural areas alike, led by a 7.5 percent drop in cities with populations between 500,000 and a million and a 6.9 percent drop in cities with more than a million inhabitants.

The steepest decline was in robbery reports — 8.1 percent — followed by murder with a 7.2 percent decline overall. However, there were some exceptions: murders rose by 1.8 percent in rural areas, and by 5.3 percent in cities with populations between 25,000 and 50,000 inhabitants.

The Washington Post has, "Despite economy, FBI says U.S. violent crime rate is down again," by Jerry Markon.

For the third consecutive year, violent crime declined in the United States in 2009, including a 7.2 percent reduction in murder, preliminary FBI figures showed Monday.

And:

The national violent crime rate had risen in 2005 and 2006 after years of decline, sparking concerns that a focus on homeland security under the Bush administration after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was draining resources away from traditional crime fighting.

But crimes of violence began going down again in 2007, falling 0.7 percent that year and then another 1.9 percent in 2008. The trend accelerated last year with a 5.5 percent reduction in overall violent crime, with decreases of 8.1 percent in robberies, 4.2 percent in aggravated assaults and 3.1 percent in rapes.

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