Justice Dept.: Violent crime rate unchanged in '08

[September 03, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department said Wednesday the rate of violent crime in the United States held steady in 2008.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics released its findings about the estimated 4.9 million violent crimes committed in the U.S. last year.

The rate of violent crime in 2008 was 19.3 victimizations per 1,000 people age 12 or older, the Justice Department found. The rate for the past two years is the lowest since 1973, the first year such data were collected.

Separate FBI crime data concluded violent crime dropped by 2.5 percent last year.

The discrepancy in the numbers is based on how the two agencies gather data: FBI statistics are based on crimes reported to local police, while Justice Department statistics are derived from surveys of households and individuals.

Because the Justice statistics are based on interviews with citizens, it counts not only reported crime but also crimes the police never hear about.

[Associated Press]

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