The FBI’s Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report reveals a mixed bag about whether our world was safer in 2015. This report demonstrates overall declines in the number of property crimes reported and overall increases in the number of violent crimes reported for the first six months of 2015 when compared with figures for the first six months of 2014.
Violent Crime
- All of the offenses in the violent crime category — murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery — showed increases when data from the first six months of 2015 were compared with data from the first six months of 2014.
- In cities with populations from 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants, violent crime was down 0.3%, and in cities with 500,000 to 999,999 in population, violent crime decreased 0.1%. The largest increase in violent crime, 5.3%, was noted in cities with 250,000 to 499,999 in population. Word to the wise—stay out of big cities!
Property Crime
- In the property crime category, burglary offenses dropped 9.8%, and larceny-theft offenses decreased 3.2% in the first six months of 2015 compared with the same months from 2014.
- Each of the city population groups had decreases in the overall number of property crimes.
- The West was the only region to show an increase (2.4%) in property crime. Reports of these offenses declined 8.0% in the Northeast, 7.0% in the Midwest, and 6.4% in the South.