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So far, so good. The preliminary Crime in the United States statistics for 2007 show that the number of violent crimes and property crimes nationwide both fell during the year.
Violent crime dropped 1.4 percent overall compared to 2006, reversing a two-year up tick. That includes decreases in all four offense categories—forcible rape (down 4.3 percent), murder/non-negligent manslaughter (down 2.7 percent), and robbery and aggravated assault (each down 1.2 percent).
Property crime declined 2.1 percent from 2006, with decreases in each city grouping. Arson—tracked separately from other property crimes—also fell 7.0 percent from 2006.
Among the other statistical highlights:
- Murder: The numbers ranged from a nearly 10 percent drop in cities with a million people or more (the largest decline in any violent crime category)…to a 3.7 percent rise in cities with 50,000 to 99,999 residents.
- Regionally speaking: The rates of violent crime and property crime fell in three out of four regions nationwide. The Northeast, Midwest, and West experienced decreases in both categories, while the South saw slight increases in violent crime (0.7 percent) and property crime (1.1 percent), driven by a 2.9 percent rise in murder and a 3.6 percent rise in robbery. The Northeast had the largest drop in violent crime (5.4 percent), including a decrease of 8.6 percent in murders and non-negligent manslaughter.
- Big cities: Cities with a million or more residents saw significant decreases in every violent crime category—9.8 percent in murder; 8.0 percent in rape; 2.9 percent in robbery, and 4.0 percent in aggravated assault.
- On the rise: Despite the nationwide drop of 1.4 percent, violent crime actually increased 1.8 percent in non-metropolitan counties and 1.9 percent in cities with populations ranging from 10,000 to 24,999.
- Forcible Rape: It was the only violent crime category experiencing declines across the board—in all city groups, in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, and in every region.
The preliminary statistics were compiled by our Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia, in close concert with city, county, tribal, and state law enforcement agencies around the country. The report includes data from more than 12,000 agencies submitting six to 12 months of data for both 2006 and 2007.
Because of the complexities involved, the FBI makes no attempt to interpret the data, which we leave to criminologists and sociologists. And, once again, we caution against using the stats to rank cities or counties. Such rankings do not account for the many variables that impact the volume and scope of crime in specific locations.
Resources:
- Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report 2007
- National press release
- Other Annual Uniform Crime Reports |
