U.S. crime rate remains steady - Rate at lowest levels since 1973

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's crime rate last year held steady at the lowest levels since the government began surveying crime victims in 1973, the Justice Department reported Sunday.

The study was the latest contribution to a decade-long trend in which violent crime as measured by victim surveys has fallen by 55 percent and property crime by 49 percent. That has included a 14 percent drop in violent crime from 2000-2001 to 2002-2003.

www.cnn.com...

Two recent possibilities, he said, are a prison population at a record 2.1 million and the terrorism fight's deterrent effect on more routine street crime.

some other stats :

In 2003, one-quarter of all violent crimes were committed by an offender armed with a gun, knife or other weapon.


Violent crime rate has dropped in every income category by at least 40 percent between 1993 and 2003.


Property crimes tended to occur more often in 2003 in the West (207 crimes per 1,000 households), among people who rent rather than own (206 crimes vs. 143 crimes per 1,000) and in urban areas (216 crimes per 1,000) rather than suburban or rural areas (145 and 137 per 1,000, respectively).


Men were more often crime victims in 2003 than women, except sexual assaults. About 29 blacks per 1,000 were crime victims, compared with 21.5 per 1,000 whites and 16 per 1,000 all others. Crime victims were more often 24 years old or less.

I can't comment on the US, but in the UK figures such as these are sometimes wheeled out by government-types and commentators often make the observation that the true crime figures are much higher but people are becoming so disillusioned with the system that many don't actually report when they are victims of crime.