[JURIST] US violent and property crime rates in 2005 reached the lowest levels since 1973, the first year such statistics were kept, according to estimations released Sunday by the US Justice Department [official website]. The report, Criminal Victimization, 2005 [text; press release] by the Bureau of Justice Statistics [official website] also shows that while slightly more robberies and gun violence incidents [AP report] occurred in the US in 2005 than in 2004, the overall violent crime rate stayed the same as the year before. Overall, the violent crime rate has fallen 52 percent between 1993 and 2005, and the overall property crime rate fell 58 percent during the same time period.

The Justice Department statistics reinforce a Federal Bureau of Investigation [official website] preliminary report [text], released in June, that indicated a rise in violent crime [JURIST report] for the first time since 2001. AP has more.