Violent crimes decrease

Curt Anderson

Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Violent crime fell last year, with only a slight uptick in murders marring the overall trend of fewer crimes across the country, the FBI said today in its annual crime report.

There were just under 1.4 million crimes of murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault in 2003, 3 percent fewer than 2002 and a decline of more than 25 percent from 1994.

The 2003 figure translates to a rate of 475 violent crimes for every 100,000 Americans, a 3.9 percent decrease from the previous year, the FBI report said. Aggravated assaults, which make up two-thirds of all violent crimes, have dropped for 10 straight years.

Murder was the only violent crime that increased in 2003, with the 16,503 slayings reported by police to the FBI representing a 1.7 percent hike from the year before. Nearly eight in 10 murder victims last year were male and 90 percent were adults.

Violent crime increased 16 percent in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which includes Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City, unincorporated Clark County, Laughlin and Bullhead City, Ariz., the report indicates. In 2003 there were 19 more homicides in the metropolitan area than in 2002, according to the report.

Property crimes such as burglary, theft and theft of motor vehicles dropped slightly, with the overall total of 10.4 million crimes in 2003 representing a decline of less than 1 percent.

The property crime rate for 2003 was 3,588 crimes per 100,000 Americans, a 1.2 percent decline. Property crime is down 14 percent overall since 1994.

Property crimes such as burglary, theft and vehicle theft was up just over a half percent in the Las Vegas area.

Sun reporter Jen Lawson contributed to this story.