WASHINGTON – Property crime nationwide remained unchanged in 2003 from the year before, while violent crimes showed a 3.2-percent decline according to preliminary 2003 crime data released by the FBI. There were a negligible, 0.1-percent fewer number of crimes on property committed in the United States in 2003, though there was a 0.4-percent increase in burglaries.
Despite a 1.3-percent increase in murders, violent crimes were down 3.2 percent according to the figures released May 24 in the Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report.
Regionally, a more than 2-percent decrease in property crimes in the Northeast and Midwest were negated by a nearly 2-percent increase in property crimes in the West and a 0.5-percent increase in the South. Property crimes consist of burglaries,
larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.
The final numbers will be released this fall and will be published in SSI’s 2005 Buyers’ Guide and Fact Book. See the full preliminary numbers in the July print edition of SSI.
