Curt Anderson, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Crime rose slightly in the first half of 2002, including a 2.3 percent increase in murders, the FBI reported Monday. Western states saw a particularly large increase in crime, led by vehicle thefts.
Preliminary statistics reported to the FBI by 9,309 police agencies around the country showed that crime was up overall by 1.3 percent in the first six months of 2002 compared with the corresponding period a year ago.
Despite the increase in murder, violent crime overall was down 1.7 percent, mainly due to a decrease of 2.8 percent in aggravated assaults and a slight drop in robberies.
The property crimes of burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft, on the other hand, were up a combined 1.7 percent in the first half of 2002. Arson, a property crime figured separately, was down 2.6 percent.
On a regional basis, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program found that crime dropped in the Northeast (2.1 percent) and Midwest (1.4 percent) while rising in the South (0.6 percent) and West (5.9 percent). Crime was up in all the Western states, including a rise of nearly 15 percent in motor vehicle thefts.
Violent crime was down in every region except for the West, where it rose by 2.2 percent. Murders were up 7.6 percent and property crimes increased by 6.4 percent in the West in the first half of the year.
The preliminary numbers for 2002 follow an increase in crime in 2001 that was the first in a decade, coinciding with a struggling economy that many experts say could be a contributing factor. Crime rose in 2001 by 2.1 percent, compared with the year before.
The increase also comes as the Justice Department, because of budget problems, has delayed award of an estimated $1.5 billion in grants to state and local police and emergency agencies. Although those grants are aimed mainly at fighting terrorism, some on Capitol Hill say delay would hurt such crime-fighting programs as community-oriented policing, known as COPS.
“With state and local law enforcement agencies already facing fiscal crises, this hold threatens to cripple agencies in the event of an attack in the upcoming months,” said 14 Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee in a recent letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft.
The FBI crime report shows that among cities, those with populations under 24,999 had less crime in the first six months of 2002 compared with a year ago. All other cities saw increases, led by a 3.1 percent rise in those with populations between 50,000 and 99,999.
There was a 1.9 percent drop in crime in rural counties, but suburban counties experienced an increase of 3.6 percent, the FBI found.
The preliminary report for 2002 does not include raw totals of each of the crimes but gives only percentages. The complete 2002 report will be released in fall 2003.