The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) describes property crimes as crimes that typically do not endanger anyone, even though they are not victimless crimes. The goal of the crime is not to hurt someone, but to steal or destroy the property itself. Examples that the FBI lists include:

– Burglary– Motor vehicle theft– Larceny-theft– Arson

The FBI has been studying the trends for a few of the recent decades, and it has declared that the rate of property crimes in the United States is falling. For instance, they reported that it dropped by 2.7 percent between 2009 and 2010. From 2006, the drop was even more drastic, as crime had fallen by a full 9.3 percent.

The raw numbers are still pretty high, though. The FBI estimates that 9,082,887 property crimes took place in 2010. When looked at as a rate, that means there were 2,941.9 property crimes for every 100,000 people.

Even that rate has been falling, though, and it’s been going down—as the population increases—even faster than the overall rate. The per capita rate in 2010 was 3.3 percent lower than the same rate in 2009. When compared to 2006, the rate was 12.1 percent lower, and, when compared to 2001, it had fallen by a full 19.6 percent.

The total cost of these crimes can only be estimated, but the FBI’s numbers indicate that the cost in 2010 alone could have been as high as 15.7 billion dollars.

Those who have been accused of property crimes always have a right to a fair trial in North Attleboro, Massachusetts.

Source: FBI, “Property Crime,” accessed Oct. 28, 2015