Crime was down in 2011

 The FBI recently released the crime totals for the first 6 months of 2011 and crime is down across the board.  Nearly every category of both violent and property crime saw a reduction both nationally and by region of the country.

 Looking specifically at homicides there was a 5.7% reduction in homicides nationwide.  This was lead by a 12.1% reduction in homicide in the Northeast United States and 8.5% in the Midwest. 

 Some individual cities had increases in homicides, however most cities had reductions.  Some notable large reductions in major cities include Las Vegas (-48%), Charlotte (-42%), Cleveland (-25%), Columbus (-24%), Nashville (-31%), Fort Worth (-44%), and Houston (-37%).  Chicago was down by 14%. 

 Some notable increases in major cities include Phoenix (+21%), Detroit (+15%), St. Louis (+11%), Oklahoma City (+30%), Philadelphia (+8%), and Memphis (+29%).

 If this reduction continues through the second half of 2011, it will be the 4^th straight year that homicides declined.  All other major crime categories – from assault to robbery to arson – have also had nearly four years of reductions.  This is particularly surprising given the slow economy and high unemployment – factors that caused many to predict impending increases in crime.  Now that the stats are in and crime continues to decline, criminologists are struggling to explain exactly why this decline is occurring.