National Drop in Crime Rates
The FBI recently released preliminary crime statistics for 2009, and there’s good news in the numbers. Violent crime, which includes murder, forcible rape robbery and aggravated assault, was down 5.5 percent in the US in 2009. The percentage change is compared to 2008 crime rates. Additionally, property crime including burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft decreased by 4.9 percent. Showing an even greater drop, the occurrence of arson was 10.4 percent less than in 2008. Even more encouraging is that these improvements aren’t limited to this specific year. In an FBI report of crimes between 1980 and 1999, there are continuous and significant decreases in property crime. While overall violent crimes remained relatively constant, in 1980 there were 12,063,700 property crimes and by 1999 that number was down to 10,204,500. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the FBI, most violent crimes have steadily decreased in recent years as well but a stagnation of homicide rates is preventing a significant decrease from being witnessed in the overall violent crimes category.Some suggest that the reason behind the decreasing property crimes is the improvement in home security technology. Advancements have allowed home security systems to become a mainstream product in American households. Technology used to send signals between an alarm system and a security company response center has improved, allowing for rapid response, deterring criminals. New features such as smart phone applications, which allow homeowners to arm or disarm an alarm encourages activation and use of these systems, further preventing property crime.The numbers are encouraging, but in order for this trend to continue, home security must continue to be a priority amongst homeowners. Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of these statistics.