MEDIA RELEASE

According to the figures released Monday, Sept. 19 by the FBI, the estimated number of violent crimes in 2010 declined for the fourth consecutive year.

Property crimes also decreased, marking the eighth straight year that the collective estimates for these offenses declined.

The 2010 statistics show that the estimated volumes of violent and property crimes declined 6.0 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, when compared with the 2009 estimates.

The violent crime rate for the year was 403.6 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants (a 6.5 percent decrease from the 2009 rate), and the property crime rate was 2,941.9 offenses per 100,000 persons (a 3.3 percent decrease from the 2009 figure).

These and additional data are presented in the 2010 edition of the FBI’s annual report Crime in the United States. This publication is a statistical compilation of offense and arrest data reported by law enforcement agencies voluntarily participating in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.

The UCR Program collects information on crimes reported by law enforcement agencies regarding the violent crimes of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault as well as the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. (Although the FBI classifies arson as a property crime, it does not estimate arson data because of variations in the level of participation by the reporting agencies. Consequently, arson is not included in the property crime estimate.)

The program also collects arrest data for the offenses listed above plus 20 additional offenses that include all other crimes except traffic violations.

In 2010, there were 18,108 city, county, university and college, state, tribal, and federal agencies that participated in the UCR Program.

A summary of the statistics reported by these agencies, which are included in Crime in the United States 2010 report, follows:

* Nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 1,246,248 violent crimes.

* Each of the four violent crime offenses decreased when compared with the 2009 estimates. Robbery had the largest decrease at 10.0 percent, followed by forcible rape with a 5.0 percent decline, murder and non-negligent manslaughter with a 4.2 percent decrease, and aggravated assault with a 4.1 percent decline.

* Nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 9,082,887 property crimes.

* Each of the property crime offenses also decreased in 2010 when compared with the 2009 estimates. The largest decline, 7.4 percent, was for motor vehicle thefts. The estimated number of burglaries decreased 2.0 percent, and the estimated number of larceny-thefts declined 2.4 percent.

* Collectively, victims of property crimes (excluding arson) lost an estimated $15.7 billion in 2010.

* The FBI estimated that in 2010, agencies nationwide made about 13.1 million arrests, excluding traffic violations.

* The 2010 arrest rate for violent crimes was 179.2 per 100,000 inhabitants; for property crime, the rate was 538.5 per 100,000 inhabitants.

* By violent crime offense, the arrest rate for murder and non-negligent manslaughter was 3.6; forcible rape, 6.5; robbery, 36.6; and aggravated assault was 132.6 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants.

* By property crime offense, the arrest rate for burglary was 94.3; larceny-theft, 417.5; and motor vehicle theft, 23.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. The arrest rate for arson was 3.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.

* In 2010, there were 14,744 law enforcement agencies that reported their staffing levels to the FBI. These agencies reported that, as of Oct. 31, 2010, they collectively employed 705,009 sworn officers and 308,599 civilians, a rate of 3.5 employees for each 1,000 inhabitants.

More highlights:

* Total number of crimes reported: 10,329,135 (1,246,248 violent crimes and 9,082,887 property crimes)

* Most common violent crime: aggravated assault (62.5 percent of all violent crimes during 2010)

* Most common property crime: larceny-theft (68.2 percent of all property crimes during 2010)

* Top three crimes for which law enforcement reported arrests: drug abuse violations (1,638,846), driving while intoxicated (1,412,223), and larceny-theft (1,271,410)

* Total number of arrests, excluding traffic violations: 13,120,947, including 552,077 for violent crimes and 1,643,962 for property crimes (the number of arrests doesn’t reflect the number of individuals arrested—some individuals may have been arrested more than once)

* Most common characteristics of arrestees: 74.5 percent of arrestees were male, and 69.4 percent of arrestees were white

* How often firearms were used in crimes: in 67.5 percent of reported murders, 41.4 percent of reported robberies, and 20.6 percent of aggravated assaults

* Total losses for victims of property crimes, excluding arsons: an estimated $15.7 billion

Message from the Director

Preventing terrorist attacks from both domestic and global adversaries is a critical national security objective, highlighted recently by the U.S. military’s elimination of the FBI’s number one most wanted fugitive, Osama bin Laden.

Yet the publication of the 2010 national crime statistics reminds us that national security is as much about keeping our streets safe from crime as it is about protecting the United States from terrorism. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, Crime in the United States, 2010, indicates that, overall, crime decreased in our nation last year.

While this information is encouraging as a whole, when properly analyzed, these data also provide valuable insight into the nature and volume of crime in small and large communities alike.

The FBI is proud to support local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies whose cooperative efforts offer a picture that experts can study, and as a result, produce new strategies or improve current methods of combating crime.

More than 18,000 law enforcement agencies participate in the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program to provide crime statistics that are used in many real-world applications. It is for these partners and those who analyze the resulting data that the FBI is especially pleased to further the evolution of the UCR program.

Over the next two years, the UCR Program will continue its redevelopment project, incorporating improved technology that will provide enhanced features and additional, more timely information to the criminal justice community, government agencies, researchers, students, and others.

While the conventional activities of law enforcement officers do not always attract the media headlines created when terrorist threats are disrupted, the UCR Program’s statistics are proof of the strength and courage routinely demonstrated to enforce law and order in our communities.

The significant challenge of protecting life and property requires many different kinds of resources, including data such as the information found in this report.

The highest mission of the FBI’s UCR Program is to provide information to help law enforcement and other community leaders better understand the issues they face and more effectively prepare to meet them each day.

Robert S. Mueller, III
Director

— Find out more:
www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr