For Immediate Release
Sunday, November 21, 1999
6 P.M. Eastern Time

Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office

UCR 1999 Preliminary Report (pdf)
Table 4 (Excel 5.0 & up spreadsheet)

According to preliminary Uniform Crime Reporting Program figures released today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a 10-percent decrease in serious crime was reported by the Nation's law enforcement agencies during the first 6 months of 1999 when compared to figures reported for the same time period of the previous year.

Violent and property crimes are combined to measure serious crime. During the six-month period, an 8-percent decline in violent crime and a 10-percent drop in property crime were reported.

Decreases were recorded for each of the violent crimes. Murder registered the greatest decline with a 13-percent drop, followed by robbery, which decreased 10 percent; forcible rape, 8 percent; and aggravated assault, 7 percent. All property crimes also decreased for the six-month period. Burglary fell 14 percent; motor vehicle theft, 12 percent; and larceny-theft, 8 percent. Law enforcement agencies nationwide recorded an 11-percent decline in arson, a property crime counted only in the Modified Crime Index.

Serious crime dropped in all of the Nation's geographic regions. The declines were 12 percent in the West, 11 percent in the Midwest, 10 percent in the Northeast, and 7 percent in the South.

Serious crime figures fell in cities of all population groups during the first half of 1999 compared to the first half of 1998. Declines ranged from 11 percent in cities with populations of 25,000 to 99,999 to a 6-percent drop in cities with populations over 1 million. The decreases reported by rural and suburban county law enforcement agencies were 11 and 10 percent, respectively.