WASHINGTON - The FBI says crime was down in Gainesville last year.
A nationwide report on crime released by the agency Monday is broken down by Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The Gainesville MSA includes all of Hall County.
It shows that crime in Gainesville, overall, was down compared to 2009, with increases only in robbery and larceny-theft.
The rate of violent crimes in metro Gainesville, which includes Hall County, was 174.4 per 100,000 population last year, compared to 180.3 the year before. The population the FBI uses for the Gainesville MSA in its report is 186,894.
The is a list of crimes the FBI tracks each year and the totals for Gainesville for 2010, with the number in 2009 in parenthesis:
*Violent crime
Murder/non-negligent manslaughter: 4 (5)
Forceable rape: 36 (39)
Robbery: 87 (68)
Aggravated assault: 230 (199)
*Property crime
Burglary: 1,101 (1,196)
Larceny-theft: 3,111 (2,992)
Motor vehicle theft: 303 (327)
The estimated number of violent crimes nationwide in 2010 declined for the fourth consecutive year. Property crimes also decreased, marking the eighth straight year that the collective estimates for these offenses declined.