The United States experienced a rise in the number of violent crimes during the first half of 2015, according to new statistics released by the FBI on Tuesday.
The bureau published its Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, which looks at crime in the United States in six-month windows. The most recent report, which covers the first six months of 2015, indicates that violent crime increased 1.7 percent when compared to the same six-month stretch of 2014.
Violent crimes include murders, rapes, non-negligent manslaughter, robberies and aggravated assaults, the bureau said in a news release. Each individual type of crime also increased from the totals reported in the first six months of 2014.
However, the FBI said property crimes like burglaries, larcenies and vehicle thefts, dipped 4.2 percent when compared to totals from the first half of 2014.
The preliminary data paints a partial picture of crime in the United States, but not a full one.
The Uniform Crime Reporting Program, from which the new statistics were compiled, relies on approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country to voluntarily submit data to the FBI. The bureau said about 13,000 of those agencies submitted comparable data for the first halves of 2014 and 2015.
The FBI also didn’t release the number of crimes committed, only percent changes.
The statistics showed murder rose 6.2 percent, aggravated assaults went up 2.3 percent and there were 0.3 percent more robberies. The FBI has two different types of data for rape, as it changed the definition of the offense in 2013. The so-called “legacy definition” saw a 9.6 increase, the bureau said. The “revised definition,” which is broader and based on penetration, increased 1.1 percent.
Murders went up in cities of all sizes, including 17 percent in those with fewer than 10,000 people — despite just a 1.5 percent rise in violent crimes there.
When it comes to property crimes, the bureau said nationwide burglary rates fell 9.8 percent and larcenies dropped 3.2 percent, but motor vehicle thefts rose 1 percent.
The West was the only region in which violent crime and property crime increased, the bureau said, posting respective rises of 5.6 and 2.4 percent. The Northeast, meanwhile, was the only region to see declines in both categories, with an 8 percent drop in property crime and a 3.2 percent drop in violent offenses.
Data from the other two regions – the South and Midwest – mirrored national trends, with violent crime posting slight increases and property crimes declining.
The South saw a 1.6 percent increase in violent crime and a 6.4 percent drop in property crimes, according to the bureau, while the Midwest witnessed a 7 percent drop in property crimes and a 1.4 percent rise in violent crimes.
The FBI’s two most recent full-year crime reports, covering 2014 and 2013, both showed national declines in property and violent crimes from the previous year.
The FBI is expected to release its full report on 2015 crime data later this year.
