By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON — Murders, robberies and rapes were down in the U.S. in 2009, according to the FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report released Monday.
The report said violent crimes were down 5.5 percent over last year and property crimes dropped 4.9 percent.
More specifically, robberies dropped 8.1 percent; murder, 7.2 percent; aggravated assault, 4.2 percent; and forcible rape, 3.1 percent, the report said. Violent crime dropped 4 percent in metropolitan counties and 3.0 percent in non-metropolitan counties.
The report said the largest dip in murders —7.5 percent—was in cities with populations ranging from 500,000 to 999,999. Murders were up overall — 5.3 percent — in cities of 25,000 to 49,999.
Car theft was also down 17.2 percent.
