WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Violent crime across the United States fell in 2007 for the first time since 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Monday.
Property crimes dropped for the fifth straight year, and other crime classifications -- from aggravated assault to murder -- were down from 2006 statistics as well, the FBI said about its Crime in the United States 2007 report.
An estimated 1.4 million violent crimes were reported last year, a drop of 0.7 percent compared to 2006, the bureau's Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia reported.
Overall, property crimes fell 1.4 percent in 2007, to an estimated 9.8 million, the FBI said. Larceny and theft offenses accounted for two-thirds of all property crimes, and property crime victims -- excluding arson victims -- lost an estimated $17.6 billion collectively.
In 2007, more than 17,700 city, county, college and university, state, tribal, and federal agencies voluntarily participated in the program. The agencies represented nearly 95 percent of the country's population.
