FBI: Violent crime down

Tue., Dec. 14, 2004

Associated Press

Death penalty decline

WASHINGTON – The use of the death penalty dropped this year for the fifth year in a row, as questions grow about the guilt of the condemned and more states take a hard look at their use of executions, says a report by a group critical of the punishment.

The Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center's look at 2004 figures shows a 40 percent drop in executions since 1999, a 50 percent decline in death sentences handed out and a shrinking death row population.

The report, to be released today, follows last month's Bureau of Justice Statistics figures showing the number of people sentenced to death declining and includes preliminary 2004 numbers.

The report attributes the decline in part to high-profile cases in which innocent people were freed from death row.

Murders in the United States dropped by nearly 6 percent in the first half of the year after rising for four straight years, the FBI reported Monday, and almost all other crimes declined, too.

Overall, violent crime was down 2 percent in the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2003, according to preliminary figures provided to the FBI by more than 10,700 state and local police agencies. Violent crime includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crimes – burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft – also declined about 2 percent and arsons fell by nearly 7 percent. The only crime that increased was rape, up 1.4 percent nationwide and 6.5 percent in cities with populations of 1 million or more.

Experts aren’t sure why crime is falling. James Lynch, professor at American University’s Department of Justice, Law and Society, said it could be because of increased focus on homeland security.

Violent crime has been falling for years but the number of murders has inched up after reaching a low of about 15,500 in 1999.

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FBI: Violent crime down

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