[JURIST] The FBI’s preliminary annual crime statistics for 2010, released on Monday, show a decrease in violent crime [press release] for the fourth year in a row. According to the Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report of 2010 [text], the number of reported violent crimes between January and June decreased 6.2 percent when compared to statistics from the same period in 2009. Specifically, the number of murders dropped by 7.1 percent, robberies dropped by 10.7 percent, aggravated assaults dropped by 3.9 percent and forcible rapes dropped 6.2 percent. Additionally, property crime has continued to decrease for the eighth year in a row by 2.8 percent, specifically with 9.7 percent fewer motor vehicle thefts, 2.3 percent fewer larceny thefts, and 1.4 percent fewer burglaries. The FBI compiled the data from crime statistics from more than 12,000 city, county, university and college, state, tribal, and federal agencies nationwide.

In September, the FBI released its Crime in the United States 2009 [text; JURIST report] report disclosing that violent crime in the nation decreased 5.3 percent and property crime decreased 4.6 percent, when compared to data from 2008. The drop in 2009 follows a 1.9 percent decrease for 2008 and a 0.7 percent decrease [JURIST reports] for 2007. That came after two years of increasing rates of similar crimes, including a 2006 increase of 1.3 percent and a 2005 increase of 2.3 percent [JURIST reports].