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U.S. Crime Rate at 30 year low

A new report from the U.S. Justice Department shows that nationwide crime is at a 30-year low remaining unchanged from 2004. According to the report, violent crime as measured by victim surveys has fallen by 57-percent and property crime by 50-percent since 1993. Those numbers include a 9-percent drop in violent crime from 2001-2002 to 2003-2004.

Murders are not counted in the total because the bureau`s study is based on statements by crime victims. The report also states that, nearly two-thirds of women knew their attackers, while men were just as likely to be attacked by strangers.

In 2004, just under twenty-five-percent of all violent crimes were committed by an offender armed with a gun, knife or other weapon. The rates of rapes and robberies have dropped by nearly two-thirds since 1993.