Violent Crime: New FBI statistics show overall drop, slight rise in burglary

By: Julia Dahl
Topics: Daily Blotter

CBS

(CBS) New data released today by the FBI show that, overall, violent crime was down about four percent in 2011. However, there were some notable increases, including burglary, and murder in cities with fewer than 25,000 people.

According to the FBI's Preliminary Annual Crime Report, overall, murder is down 1.9 percent with both forcible rape and aggravated assault down four percent. The crime decline seems most pronounced in cities with more than one million residents where murder is down 4.1 percent and robbery down 5.2 percent.

As population drops,so do the percent decreases in crime. In fact, the FBI reports that murder is up 18.3 percent in towns with under 10,000 people and up 9.2 percent in towns with 10,000-24,999 people.

Nonmetropolitan counties also fare worse than metropolitan areas, with property crime and larceny up in the former, but down in the latter.

The one category of crime that is up in almost all regions is burglary, with a 3.2 percent rise in the Northeast and a 1.3 percent rise in the Midwest.

The FBI's statistics are drawn from reports submitted voluntarily by police agencies around the country.

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by LCCLYDE June 12, 2012 4:07 AM EDT

All this Texan can say is thanks to concealed carry and a Second Amendnent it just might be true.

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by erasmus111 June 12, 2012 3:38 PM EDT: There is no way that violent crime is down. The NRA must be in charge of the stats. The gun is the reason why so many are dying.


by erasmus111 June 12, 2012 4:03 AM EDT: Violent crime is down? You could have fooled me. From when I started reading the stories on here (over 4 years ago), there has been a dramatic increase in the number of violent crimes. It's mind boggling how many mass shootings there are, how many kids are being tortured by their parents, and how many kids are getting a hold of mommy and daddy's guns and shooting someone. Some of the crimes are absolutely horrendous.; Reply to this comment


by sandiegopete June 11, 2012 10:59 PM EDT: Burglary is not a violent crime? I guess the only thing that counts is physical violence. Mental violence does not count. If you don't thing burglary is a violent crime then you have not spoken with a burglary victim.; Reply to this comment


by rwsmith29456 June 11, 2012 10:33 PM EDT: People are realizing that violence doesn't pay like robbing people does.; Reply to this comment


by korper70 June 11, 2012 6:07 PM EDT: When you stop arresting people, when you stop filing charges, when you stop filing reports, when you routinely misreport one type of crime as another... Of course the statistics for violent crime will go down!; Reply to this comment