For Release December 19, 2005

 

As a whole, law enforcement agencies throughout the Nation reported a decrease of 0.5 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to their attention in the first half of 2005 when compared to figures reported for the first six months of 2004. The violent crime category includes murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The number of property crimes in the United States from January to June of 2005 decreased 2.8 percent when compared to data from the same time period in 2004. Property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. Arson is also a property crime, but data for arson are not included in property crime totals. Figures for the first half of 2005 indicated that arson decreased 5.6 percent when compared to 2004 figures.

The data presented in Tables 1 and 2 indicate the percent change in offenses known to law enforcement for the first six months of 2004 and 2005 by population group and geographic region, respectively. Table 3 reflects the percent change within the Nation for consecutive years (each year compared to the prior year). Table 4 presents a two-year comparison for the first halves of 2004 and 2005 of offenses known to law enforcement for agencies having a resident population of 100,000 and over. All data in this report are preliminary.