Reported violent crimes in the U.S. dropped 2.5 percent last year, the FBI said today. Reported property crimes were down 1.6 percent. The continued crime declines were reported in the FBI's preliminary estimates for last year. A final count is expected in September. All four violent crime categories were down: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 4.4 percent; aggravated assault 3.2 percent, forcible rape 2.2 percent, and robbery 1.1 percent.Violent crime reports also dropped in all city population groups. Cities with populations of 250,000 to 499,999 saw the greatest decline, 4 percent. Violent crime reports in nonmetropolitan counties decreased 3.3 percent and in metropolitan counties declined 2.5 percent. Murder was down 9.1 percent in cities with 100,000 to 249,999 in population. In cities with populations less than 10,000, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter increased 5.5 percent. Nationwide, burglaries were the only property crime to show an increase, 1.3 percent. Larceny-thefts were down 0.6 percent, and motor vehicle thefts declined 13.1 percent.
