The first six months of 2012 showed a 1.9 percent increase in violent crime, and a 1.5 percent increase in property crime. 

The nation's estimated rate of both violent and property crime shot up last year after several years of decline.

All four of the violent crime offense categories showed a nationwide decline, except in cities with a certain population size.

According to the FBI's Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, the nation experienced a 5.5 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 2.8 percent decline in the number of property crimes in 2010 when compared with data from 2009. The report is based on information the FBI gathered from 13,007 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 comparable months of data for both 2009 and 2010.

According to the FBI's Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, January-June, 2010, the nation saw a 6.2 percent decrease in the number of reported violent crimes and a 2.8 percent decrease in the number of reported property crimes compared to data for the same time frame during 2009.