FBI: Violent Crimes Down in 2007

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released its annual report on the latest crime trends in the United States. The statistics show that both violent crime and property crime were down nationwide in 2007, when compared with data from 2006.

According to the report released Monday (Crime in the United States 2007), in 2007 there were about 1.41 million instances of violent crime in the U.S. (down 0.7 percent from 2006), and approximately 9.84 million property crimes (a 1.4 percent decrease from 2006). All seven crimes tracked in the FBI's "specific offense" category -- murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, and motor vehicle theft -- were down for 2007. To compile the 2007 report, the FBI worked in conjunction with more than 17,000 local, city, state, tribal, and federal agencies -- groups that represented almost 95 percent of the U.S. population.

• Press Release: FBI Releases 2007 Crime Statistics
• Full Report: Crime in the United States 2007
• State-by-State Statistics from the FBI Report
• Reuters: Violent Crimes Decline in 2007
• Crimes A to Z (FindLaw)
• Crime Prevention Resources (FindLaw)
• Criminal Law Center (FindLaw)