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| Crime Survey Shows Largest Drop Ever in 2000 |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 06/25/2001 |
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The U.S. violent crime rate, which has been falling steadily for years, declined by 15 percent in 2000, the largest annual decrease since the survey started in 1974, the Justice Department said recently. According to its annual crime victims survey, the agency's Bureau of Justice Statistics said Americans experienced about 7.4 million violent crimes such as rape, assault and robbery last year, about 1 million fewer than in 1999. Property crimes, which account for about 75 percent of all offenses and which include household burglaries and motor vehicle thefts, fell by 10 percent last year. In all, there were an estimated 25.9 million violent and property crimes last year, down from 28.8 million in 1999 and 44 million in 1974 when the survey began. The rate has been going down every year since 1994. The survey is based on interviews with nearly 160,000 people 12 or older in 86,800 households across the country and is considered more complete than FBI figures, which only give crimes reported to the police. The survey said only about half of the violent crimes and about a third of the property crimes were reported to the police -- a level that has held steady over the years. Victims most commonly do not report crimes to the police because they feel the offense was a private, personal matter, the offender was unsuccessful in the attempted crime or stolen property was recovered, Justice Department officials said. The survey of crime victims does not include murder. The FBI has estimated the number of murders nationwide declined by just 1.1 percent to 15,362 last year. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who took office in February, issued a statement describing last year's significant crime decrease as 'heartening' and 'good news.' He said that 'there are still far too many people in our nation who are victims of crime' and that work must continue to prevent crime to make sure 'our communities become even safer.' |
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