FBI: Violent crime drops for fifth year

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Violent crime in the United States declined in 2011 for the fifth year in a row and property offenses were down for the ninth, the FBI said Monday.

The information was contained in the agency's annual compilation of crime statistics. This year, 18,233 police agencies contributed to the report.

The rate of violent crime was down 4.5 percent from the previous year, the report said, while the property crime rate fell 1.3 percent.

An estimated 1.2 million violent crimes were reported during the year, the FBI said, and about 9.1 million property crimes. Excluding traffics violations, an estimated 12.4 million people were arrested.

The biggest decrease in violent crime, 4 percent, was in robbery while murder and non-negligent manslaughter dipped 0.7 percent.

Burglaries were estimated to have climbed 0.9 percent in 2011 while auto theft was down 3.3 percent.

Excluding arson, an estimated $15.6 billion was lost by victims of property crime, the agency said.