The Federal Bureau of Investigation, official scorekeeper for crime figures and statistics, released their official report on crime for 2010 this morning. According to their math geeks violent crime is continuing its statistical decline, dropping 6.5% compared to 2009. Readers are warned that correlation does not equal causation, so the decline in violent crime may not be due to the rapidly increasing ownership of firearms and ability to carry them, but it sure does look that way. Read on for some highlights from the report…
From the press release:
In 2010, there were 18,108 city, county, university and college, state, tribal, and federal agencies that participated in the UCR program. A summary of the statistics reported by these agencies, which are included in Crime in the United States, 2010, follows:
- Nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 1,246,248 violent crimes.
- Each of the four violent crime offenses decreased when compared with the 2009 estimates. Robbery had the largest decrease at 10.0 percent, followed by forcible rape with a 5.0 percent decline, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter with a 4.2 percent decrease, and aggravated assault with a 4.1 percent decline.
- Nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 9,082,887 property crimes.
- Each of the property crime offenses also decreased in 2010 when compared with the 2009 estimates. The largest decline, 7.4 percent, was for motor vehicle thefts. The estimated number of burglaries decreased 2.0 percent, and the estimated number of larceny-thefts declined 2.4 percent.
- Collectively, victims of property crimes (excluding arson) lost an estimated $15.7 billion in 2010.
- The FBI estimated that in 2010, agencies nationwide made about 13.1 million arrests, excluding traffic violations.
- The 2010 arrest rate for violent crimes was 179.2 per 100,000 inhabitants; for property crime, the rate was 538.5 per 100,000 inhabitants.
- By violent crime offense, the arrest rate for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter was 3.6; forcible rape, 6.5; robbery, 36.6; and aggravated assault, 132.6 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants.
- By property crime offense, the arrest rate for burglary was 94.3; larceny-theft, 417.5; and motor vehicle theft, 23.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. The arrest rate for arson was 3.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.
- In 2010, there were 14,744 law enforcement agencies that reported their staffing levels to the FBI. These agencies reported that as of October 31, 2010, they collectively employed 705,009 sworn officers and 308,599 civilians, a rate of 3.5 employees for each 1,000 inhabitants.
The full report was inaccessible when this post was written, but once it comes online expect a full breakdown from your friendly TTAG statisticians.