U.S. violent crime down to 1973 levels

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. violent crime rate fell 39 percent and the property crime rate fell by 29 percent from 2000 to 2009, Bureau of Justice Statistics officials say.

The decline is part of a longer-run decline from 51.2 victimizations per 1,000 persons in 1994 and violent crime rates are at their lowest levels since 1973, the first year data from crime victims were collected, the report -- Criminal Victimization 2009 -- said.

The report, written by BJS statisticians Jennifer Truman and Michael Rand, estimated 4.3 million violent crimes -- rapes or sexual assaults, robberies, aggravated assaults and simple assaults -- occurred, as did an estimated 15.6 million property crimes -- burglaries, motor vehicle thefts and household thefts -- and 133,000 personal thefts such as picked pockets and snatched purses. These offenses included both crimes reported and unreported to police.

Violent and property crime rates in 2009 remain at the lowest levels since 1973 -- and the rate of every major violent and property crime measured by BJS fell from 2000 to 2009.

The U.S. violent crime rate dropped from 19.3 victimizations per 1,000 persons to 17.1 per 1,000 persons during 2009, the report says.