Violent crime reports to U.S. law enforcement agencies dropped 3.5 percent in the first six months of last year compared with the previous year, the FBI said in a report of preliminary data issued yesterday. Property crime reports dropped 2.5 percent.
The violent crime decline was the sharpest in four years. The murder total fell 4.4 percent in 2008’s first six months. Violent crime reports dropped in most city population categories. The smallest was in cities of more than 1 million population, where the total dropped only .8 percent. Murders were up 9.8 percent in cities of under 10,000 population–one of the only increases in any crime category.