CRIME IN THE U.S.
The Preliminary Stats for 2006
06/04//07
 |
| FBI
Assistant Directors Thomas Bush
III and Kenneth Kaiser brief
the media on the recently released
crime
statistics. |
|
We’ve
just released our preliminary crime statistics
for 2006…and they’re available
in full only here on this website. The big
picture? Nationwide, violent crime in the
U.S. increased 1.3 percent and property crime
decreased 2.9 percent over 2005.
The stats, which we collected from more
than 11,700 law enforcement agencies nationwide,
show a rise in violent crime for the second
straight year. The increase, however, is less
than the 2.3 percent figure reported for 2005
and the 3.7 percent increase reflected in
the preliminary six-month report for 2006
released in December.
A snapshot of the other key numbers for
the full year:
Violent Crime
- Murder: Is up 0.3 percent
overall. The number of offenses increased
the most—6.7 percent—in cities
with a million or more residents and decreased
the most—11.9 percent—in non-metropolitan
counties.
- Forcible rape: Decreased
nearly 2 percent overall. Only two population
categories experienced increases, both with
populations less than 100,000.
- Robbery: Rose 6 percent,
the highest increase in any violent or property
crime category. Each population group except
non-metropolitan counties saw an increase.
- Aggravated assault: Experienced
a slight overall drop of 0.7 percent. The
largest cities experienced the greatest
declines.
- Regional breakdown: Three
of four geographic regions (except the Northeast)
showed violent crime increases. The largest
increase was in the West, with 2.8 percent.
Property Crime
- Burglary: Increased
slightly, 0.2 percent. The greatest increase—3.3
percent—came in cities with 500,000
to 999,999 residents.
- Larceny-theft (down
3.5 percent overall) and motor
vehicle theft (down 4.7 percent)
experienced decreases in every population
category.
- Arson: Is up 1.8 percent
in all but one population group. Arsons
are tracked separately from other property
crime offenses.
The stats also include:
- A breakdown by major cities;
- The overall percent change compared to
the prior year since 2003; and
- National totals for each category by
geographic region.
The reason we collect and share
these crime stats year after year, of course,
is to help law enforcement, legislators,
and communities better understand and fight
crime. The information will help
our own efforts to disrupt violent crime
and dismantle gangs through our more than
180 multi-agency safe street tasks forces
around the country, including our newest
one in Orlando, Florida.
See our Violent
Crime and Major Thefts webpage for
more details on our work to protect your communities
from violence, including our intelligence
work and the range of criminal justice services
and other capabilities we provide to the entire
law enforcement community.
And stay tuned for a more comprehensive
and complete report on 2006 crime stats in
September.
Resources:
-
Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report 2006
-
Press release on the Report
-
Other Annual Uniform Crime Reports
