Although violent crime in the U.S. slightly increased in 2012, property crime continues a 10-year decline, according to the latest Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) numbers.
“While the violent crime rate remained virtually unchanged when compared to the 2011 rate, the property crime rate declined 1.6 percent,” according to FBI data.
The FBI publishes and compiles statistics on arrest and offense data for its Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. Law enforcement agencies from around the U.S. voluntarily provide the information.
“A total of 18,290 city, county, state, university, college, tribal, and federal agencies participated in the UCR program in 2012,” reports the FBI.
The data includes reports on murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, non-negligent manslaughter, and property crimes like burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
Nationally, the FBI reported that law enforcement agencies made about 12.2 million arrests. Traffic violations were not included.
According to the FBI, there were an estimated 1.2 million violent crimes in 2012. Crimes of murder and non-negligent manslaughter increased 1.1 percent; forcible rape was up 0.2 percent; and aggravated assault up 1.1 percent; while robberies declined by 0.1 percent.
During the same year, nationwide, there were 8.9 million property crimes, the FBI reported.
“The estimated number of burglaries declined 3.7 percent in 2012 when compared to the 2011 figure,” the FBI reported, adding, “The estimated number of larceny-thefts remained unchanged, and motor vehicle thefts increased 0.6 percent.”
It was reported that, collectively, property crime victims, not including arson, “suffered losses calculated at $15.5 billion in 2012.”
