Crime – and Punishments – Decline
Crime down in early 2010; prison population drops in 2009
By Jordan Smith, 9:00AM, Tue. Dec. 21, 2010
The FBI has released its preliminary snapshot of crime during the first part of 2010, showing that, again, crime has decreased across the country.
According to the numbers, covering January to June 2010, violent crime dropped 6.2% compared to 2009 numbers, while property crime dropped 2.8%, the FBI reports.
The Texas numbers generally follow the trend. Austin's numbers are not included (numbers are provided to the FBI by local police agencies), but crime appears to have dropped in most of the state's major cities, including Dallas, Houston and El Paso.
You can find the Texas table here.
Meanwhile, numbers released by the feds today (Tuesday) show that the number of adults under correctional supervision – in prison, jail, or otherwise on-paper – declined slightly in 2009, the first real drop in 30 years. In 2009, one in 32 adults (or, roughly 3.1% of the adult population) was under supervision, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Got something to say? The Chronicle welcomes opinion pieces on any topic from the community. Submit yours now at austinchronicle.com/opinion.
A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.
Richard Whittaker, Aug. 25, 2017
Richard Whittaker, July 7, 2016
Jordan Smith, Oct. 22, 2013
Jordan Smith, Oct. 18, 2013
May 22, 2014
courts, cops, crime, FBI, BJS, uniform crime reports
