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Crime Rate Drops Across Texas

The overall number of major crimes was down in Austin in 2010, despite 16 more murders than in 2009.
Photo by Nasha Lee for KUT News.
The overall number of major crimes was down in Austin in 2010, despite 16 more murders than in 2009.

New statistics released today show a drop in the number of crimes committed in Texas last year.

The Uniform Crime Report issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety found that the crime rate dropped 6% between 2009 and 2010.  The crime rate measures crimes committed per 100,000 people in the state. Violent crime was down 8.3% and property crimes fell by 5.7%.  The number of crimes committed statewide was also down.

Most of the cities in Central Texas also showed a decline in the total number of crimes that were reported between last year and the year before, though not all the news was bright. Austin saw 16 more murders over that period. Overall, Round Rock showed an 8% jump in the number of crime reports they received in from 2009 to 2010.

Texas cities with populations over 50,ooo (like Cedar Park and San Marcos) are on page 7 of the report; cities with populations over 100,000 (like Austin and Round Rock) are on page 8.

Ian Crawford joined KUT as News Editor in 2008, after spending over four years as a reporter/anchor at KLBJ Radio in Austin. He began his broadcasting career while still in high school in Southern Oregon. During high school and college at the University of Oregon, he worked at times as a reporter, news anchor, sports play-by-play reporter, music host and commercial producer before moving to Texas in 2003.