Violent Crime Fell 6% Last Year: FBI

Rate drops for 4th year in a row
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 19, 2011 2:40 PM CDT
Violent Crime, Property Crime Keep Dropping: FBI
Violent crime fell again last year, the FBI says.   (Shutterstock)

Violent crime is down for the fourth year in a row, the FBI says. Last year, it fell 6%, accompanied by a 2.7% drop in property crime—which has also steadily fallen for the past eight years, the AP reports. Some 1.2 million violent crimes and 9 million property crimes were reported in 2010. Criminologists point to an older population, high prison rates, and improved police work as the source of the decline.

Robbery dropped 10%, while rape fell 5% and murder, non-negligent manslaughter, and aggravated assault sank 4%, the AP notes. Motor-vehicle thefts saw the largest decline among property crime categories, falling 7.4%. The drop defies expectations that crime would rise with a troubled economy. But “the connection between crime and the economy is an illusion,” says an expert. Still, “The last thing we should do is get complacent and say `mission accomplished,’” says a criminologist. (More FBI stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X