Crime Statistics for 2008

The FBI released the crime statistics for 2008 today. As the chart to the left (from the press release) demonstrates for violent crimes the rates dropped between 2007 and 2008.

This data demonstrates one of the factors to always keep in mind when searching for statistics. It is September 14th and we are just now able to view crime statistics for last year. This is because it takes time to compile the data from all over the country, so when searching for statistics, always keep in mind that most recent data available may be a year or two old.

This data comes from the FBI publication "Crime in the United States 2008" which is available in its entirety online. In this online version you can find tables, such as "Offenses Known to Law Enforcement, by State by University and College, Colorado, 2008," which has the number of crimes reported to law enforcement on each campus. When looking at this table, and any other table for that matter, it is important to keep track of those footnotes. As you will see this table based its enrollment figures on 2007 data, despite the fact that this is 2008 crime statistics. This data all comes from the Uniform Crime Reports, which has archived data and publications back to the mid-1990s for the majority and its publications.

Still want more crime and justice information? Check out the library's guide.