Violent Crime Statistics Drop Nationwide and Locally, FBI Says

The estimated number of violent crimes in the U.S. in 2010 declined for the fourth consecutive year, according to the figures released today by the FBI. Property crimes also decreased, marking this the eighth straight year that the collective estimates for these offenses declined.

The 2010 statistics show that the estimated volumes of violent and property crimes declined 6.0 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, when compared with the 2009 estimates, according to a FBI press release. The violent crime rate for the year was 403.6 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants (a 6.5 percent decrease from the 2009 rate), and the property crime rate was 2,941.9 offenses per 100,000 persons (a 3.3 percent decrease from the 2009 figure).

For Manchester, the 2009 figures are the most recent available on the FBI's website, and show a slight decline over 2008's results. The number of reported violent crimes in Manchester decreased from 140 in 2008 to 137 in 2009, while property crimes dropped from 2,045 to 2,040 from 2008 to 2009.

These and additional data are presented in the 2010 edition of the FBI’s annual report Crime in the United States. This publication is a statistical compilation of offense and arrest data reported by law enforcement agencies voluntarily participating in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.

The UCR program collects information on crimes reported by law enforcement agencies regarding the violent crimes of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, as well as the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson, according to a press release.  (Although the FBI classifies arson as a property crime, it does not estimate arson data because of variations in the level of participation by the reporting agencies. Consequently, arson is not included in the property crime estimate.)

The program also collects arrest data for the offenses listed above, plus 20 additional offenses that include all other crimes except traffic violations, according to the FBI.

According to FBI Director Robert Mueller, Crime in the United States can provide “valuable insight into the nature and volume of crime in small and large communities alike.” It can also “offer a picture that experts can study, and as a result, produce new strategies or improve current methods of combating crime.”

In 2010, there were 18,108 city, county, university and college, state, tribal, and federal agencies that participated in the UCR program, according to a press release. 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.