The country’s murder rate declined 2.7% in 2007. The rate dropped the most in the Northeast, and declined in the Midwest and the West, but increased in the South. According to the preliminary Uniform Crime Report published by the FBI, violent crime declined generally by 1.4 percent in 2007 in the U.S. “This report suggests that violent crime is decreasing and remains near historic low levels,” said Peter Carr, Principal Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the Justice Department. (T. Frieden, “FBI: Violent crime down 1.4 percent in 2007”, CNN, June 9, 2008).

The overall drop in the murder rate came during the year when the U.S. had the lowest number of executions (42) in 13 years. Almost all the executions (86%) occurred in the South, which was the only region with a rise in its murder rate (+2.9%). The Northeast had no executions in 2007, and it had the largest decrease in its murder rate (-8.6%) among regions in the country. The Northeast continues to have the lowest murder rate in the country and the lowest number of executions of the four regions. See Deterrence.




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