FBI stats show decrease in violent crime

An FBI report shows a decrease in violent and property-related crime in the United States from January to June of 2011. The Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, released Monday by the FBI Press Office, found violent crimes to be down 6.4 percent and property crimes down 3.7 percent compared to the same time period in 2010. Rape was down 5.1 percent, robbery dropped 7.7 percent, murder dropped 5.7 percent and aggravated assault fell 5.9 percent. Decreases were seen nationwide and not concentrated in a specific region. There were found to be small rises in certain population groups. In cities with populations between 500,000 and 1 million, murder rose 1.2 percent. In cities with less than 10,000 people, it went up 2.6 percent. In cities with populations between 500,000 and 1 million, rape increased 6.7 but in cities of 1 million or more, it only increased 1 percent. The report is released semiannually to aid in research, legislation and planning on the local and federal level, officials said.