Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Americans were victims of slightly fewer serious crimes reported to police last year: Rape, robbery and assault remained near already low levels, and the murder rate hit its lowest point in 35 years.
The FBI’s final figures for crimes reported in 2000, released Monday, showed very slight decreases in the total number of murders, robberies, assaults and burglaries. The report showed small increases in rapes, larcenies and auto thefts.
The rate — meaning the number of incidents per 100,000 residents — dropped for all those crimes.
The report marked the nation’s ninth consecutive year of fewer reported crimes and a 22 percent decrease since 1991.
It also found the smallest year-to-year overall decline in the same period, suggesting that the dramatic downward spiral since the early 1990s may have hit a plateau.
"Crime levels are flat," said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston. "The great 1990s crime drop is over."
The FBI said law enforcement agencies reported 11.6 million serious crimes in 2000 — or one every 2.7 seconds — a 0.2 percent drop in the number overall from 1999.
Among findings:
Cities saw a 0.7 percent increase in murders, with the most pronounced increase — 11.7 percent — coming in towns with less than 10,000 residents.
Smaller cities recorded the highest rape rates in the nation, with 69 per 100,000 women, a 3 percent increase over 1999.
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.