The homicide rate in the United States rose sharply during the first six months of 2020, while some other violent crimes, such as rape and robbery, fell.
This was stated in the recently released preliminary report of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the state of crime in the period from January to June this year, based on data from 12,206 law enforcement agencies. The report showed that the number of intentional and unintentional homicides increased by almost 15% compared to July-December 2019, while the number of rapes decreased by almost 19% and robberies by 7.1%. Violent crime declined in three of the four regions of the country, with the South being the only region to see a 2.5% increase, while the Northeast saw a 4.8% decline and the Midwest 1.8% and in the West – by 1.1%. As for property crimes, the report noted that their total number decreased by almost 8%, theft – by almost 10%, burglaries – by 7.8% and car thefts – by 6.2%. The summary of the report states that law enforcement agencies in cities with a population of less than 10 thousand people reported the largest decrease in crime – by 14.2%, and law enforcement agencies in cities with a population of 250 to 500 thousand people reported the smallest decrease – by 3. 7%. The largest increase was recorded in the number of arson-related crimes, in the first six months of this year, they grew nationwide by more than 19%, with the highest growth recorded in the Western United States, where the number of arson cases increased by 28%.