Violent Crime Rate Down in 1996, According to FBI Uniform Crime Reports

CRIME RATES July 1997

The violent crime rate in the United States is down for the fifth time in the 35 years that such statistics have been kept, according to preliminary crime statistics released on June 1 by the FBI. There was a 7% decrease in violent crime in 1996, the largest one-year decline yet, and an 11% drop in murders. This new turn is attributed alternately to better law enforcement, more prisons, the aging curve of the baby-boomers, and according to some, a stabilizing drug market ("Uniform Crime Reports: 1996 Preliminary Annual Release," Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Justice, June 1, 1997; Pierre Thomas, "Violent Crime Rate Drops 7 Percent Nationwide," Washington Post, June 2, 1997, p. A1; Fox Butterfield, "Homicides Plunge 11 Percent in U.S., F.B.I. Report Says," New York Times, June 2, 1997, p. A1; Haya El Nasser, "Drug truce may be behind homicide drop," USA Today, June 2, 1997, p. 4A).

For a copy of the Preliminary Statistics, contact the FBI - (202) 324-3000, http://www.fbi.gov.