For the second consecutive year, the estimated number of violent crimes in the nation decreased when compared with the previous year’s statistics, according to FBI figures released. 

All offenses in the violent crime category, including murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery, showed decreases in the first six months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, the FBI report says. 

Violent and property crime rates rose for U.S. residents in 2012, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. These estimates are based on data from the annual National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which has collected information from victims of crime age 12 or older since 1973, according to a PRNewswire release.