FBI: Murder, Violent Crime Dropped in 2008

The FBI says murder and manslaughters reported to police dropped almost 4 percent last year.

The data was part of the Bureau's annual release of statistics, "Crime in the United States."

The 3.9 percent decline in killings was part of a nationwide drop in violent crime of 1.9 percent from 2007 to 2008.

There were an estimated 454.5 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants in 2008.

The number of forcible rapes (89,000 or 57.7 per 100,000 females) represents a decrease of 1.6% from the 2007 estimate, and is the lowest figure in the last 20 years.

Property crimes also declined overall, by 0.8 percent, but that was driven mostly by a very large drop in car thefts, which declined 12.7 percent.

The other major categories of property crime, burglaries and larceny-thefts, both rose.

Regionally, the South had the highest crime rate, while the lowest was in the Northeast.

The figures are based on crimes reported to police, who then forward the figures to the FBI.

The data are similar to preliminary figures announced by the bureau in June.

Crime in the United States: 2008 (fbi.gov)

Data regarding the 14,180 murders committed in 2008 includes the following:

Victims:

• Race: 49.0% were white, 48.6% were black, and 2.3% were from other races; race for 239 victims was unknown.

• Relationships (if known): 23.3% were slain by family members, 22.0% by strangers, and 54.7% by acquaintances (neighbor, friend, boyfriend, etc.).

• Female victims: Of murders for whom relationships with offenders were known, 34.7% were murdered by their husbands or boyfriends.

• Circumstances: 42.0% of victims were murdered during arguments (including romantic triangles) in 2008. Felony circumstances (rape, robbery, burglary, etc.) accounted for 22.9% of murders. Circumstances were unknown for 35.3% of reported homicides.

Offenders (if known):

• Gender: 90% were males, 10% females.

• Race: 51.5% were black, 46.2% were white, and 2.4% were from other races.

• Type of Weapon: 71.9% involved the use of firearms, of which 88.3% were handguns.

• Justifiable: Law enforcement reported 616 justifiable homicides in 2008. Of those, law enforcement officers justifiably killed 371 individuals, and private citizens justifiably killed 245 individuals.