On December 21^st. the FBI released its preliminary crime statistics for the United States for 2009.  The highlights are: 

• Violent crime (murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault) decreased by 4.4% 
  • The largest decease occurred in cities with populations of 1 million or more (7%)
  • Small cities with populations of 10,000 to 24,999 saw an increase of 1.7% 
• Property crime decreased; motor vehicle theft by 18.7%, larceny-theft by 5.3% and burglary by 2.5%.
• Reported arsons declined b 8.2 % 

These figures are based on data submitted by 11,700 American law enforcement agencies.