FBI Releases the 2009 Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report Figures for New York City

Preliminary figures indicate that violent crime in the nation decreased 5.5 percent, and property crime declined 4.9 percent when compared with data from 2008. The violent crime category includes murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. When compared with 2008 data, all four violent crime offenses declined nationwide in 2009. The number of property crime offenses in the United States—which include the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft—each decreased in 2009 when compared to 2008 data. Arson is also a property crime, but data for arson are not included in property crime totals. More than 13,200 law enforcement agencies contributed to this report, which is based on information from law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 months of data to the FBI in both 2008 and 2009.

Violent Crime

• All four of the offenses that make up violent crime decreased nationwide. Robbery dropped 8.1 percent, murder decreased 7.2 percent, aggravated assault declined 4.2 percent, and forcible rape decreased 3.1 percent.
• In New York City, violent crime decreased overall by 4.3 percent. Murder declined 9.9 percent, robbery by 16.2 percent, and forcible rape declined by 6.5 percent. Aggravated assault increased by 6.5 percent.

Property Crime

• Overall in the nation, there were decreases in each type of property crime. Motor vehicle theft showed the largest drop in volume at 17.2 percent, larceny-thefts declined 4.2 percent, and burglaries decreased 1.7 percent.
• In New York City, property crime dropped by 5.3 percent overall. Motor vehicle theft dropped 14 percent, larceny-theft fell by 4.4 percent, and burglary decreased by 5.5 percent.

Arson

• The number of reported arsons, which are tracked separately from other property crimes, declined 10.4 percent nationwide when compared to 2008 figures. All population groups reported decreases in the volume of arson offenses. Arson fell in all four of the nation’s regions: 11.6 percent in the West, 10.6 percent in the South, 9.2 percent in the Midwest, and 8.6 percent in the Northeast.  
• Arson data was not available for this reporting period for New York City.

FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos said, “Although many factors contribute to changes in the crime rate, the downward trending is good for New York, but our job is never done. The FBI, working with our local and state law enforcement partners, will continue to aggressively investigate criminal activity in our area with the goal of keeping our city safe.”

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