WASHINGTON — The number of violent crimes in the United States dropped 5.5 percent last year compared to 2009 and the number of property crimes went down 2.8 percent, the FBI announced Monday.
There were declines in all four categories of violent crime last year and all categories for property crime went down as well.
The FBI reported that violent crime fell in all four regions of the country — 7.5 percent in the South, 5.9 in the Midwest, 5.8 percent in the West and 0.4 percent in the Northeast.
The bureau’s preliminary statistics for 2010 are based on information from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies.
Nationally, murder and non-negligent manslaughter declined 4.4 percent, forcible rape decreased 4.2 percent, robbery declined 9.5 percent, and aggravated assault was down 3.6 percent.
The downward trend for murder and non-negligent manslaughter was especially pronounced in the nation’s smallest cities, where it went down 25.2 percent for cities under 10,000 people. Murder actually rose 3 percent in cities with populations of 250,000 to half a million.
In regard to property crimes, motor vehicle theft showed the largest drop in 2010 — 7.2 percent — followed by larceny-theft, which was down 2.8 percent and burglary, a decline of 1.1 percent.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.