FBI: Violent and Property Crime Fell In Early 2011

Violent crime and property crimes reported to law enforcement fell in the first half of 2011 despite a stagnant economy, the FBI announced Monday.

The number of violent crimes reported in the first six months of 2011 declined 6.4%, when compared with figures from the first six months of 2010. The number of property crimes fell 3.7% in the same time frame, according to the FBI's "Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report."

The FBI reported declines in all four offenses in the violent crime category—murder and nonnegligent homicide (5.7%), forcible rape (5.1%), robbery (7.7%), and aggravated assault (5.9%).

The decline came in larger cities as well as smaller communities. Cities with populations of 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants recorded the largest decrease in violent crime (7.2%). The country saw declines in each region with the largest decrease coming in the Midwest (9.7%). The West fell 6.6%; the South fell 5.8%; and the Northeast fell 3.6%.

Declines also came in all three categories of property crime—burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. The number of burglary offenses declined 2.2%; larceny-theft dropped 4.0 percent; and motor vehicle theft fell 5%.

Law enforcement agencies in cities with populations of 100,000 to 249,999 inhabitants reported the largest drop (5.1%). Property crime fell 4.4% in the Midwest, 4% in the West, 3.8% in the Northeast, and 3% in the South.

The report is based on information from more than 12,500 law enforcement agencies that submitted three to six comparable months of data to the FBI in the first six months of 2010 and 2011.