The number of violent crimes reported by law enforcement for the first half of 2012 increased 1.9 percent over figures from the same six month period in 2011, according to statistics from the FBI Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, January-June 2012.
Two of the four offenses in the violent crime category showed overall decreases compared to the same period in 2011 – murders dropped 1.7 percent, and forcible rapes decreased by 1.4 percent. But the number of robberies and aggravated assaults increased 2.0 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, the FBI reports.