In Dallas, You May Not Be Murdered. But Your Stuff'll Get Stolen.

Yesterday, during our weekly staff meeting, the question was raised concerning the FBI's Uniform Crime Report for 2007, a preliminary version of which was released last week. We wondered if perhaps we'd missed it in The News; all I can find concerning the report's release is this very general Associated Press account about stats nationwide. So, for those who missed it, including our staff, a wrap-up. And, after the jump, the DPD's take, courtesy a city council document.

Turns out, says the FBI, violent crime was down from 2006: Last year, Dallas reported 13,248 violent crimes, well down from the previous year's total of 15,058. But murders were up by 13, from 187 in 2006 to 200 last year. Reports of forcible rapes were down (511, from 665); so too were the numbers of reported aggravated assaults (5,315, down from 7,292) and, very slightly, property crimes and car burglaries and incidents of arson. Still, they're substantial enough: Says the FBI, there were 83,962 property crimes in Dallas last year, and 13,791 car thefts. And, the bad news: The number of robberies rose by a few hundred: from 6,914 in 2006 to 7,222 last year. Also up were burglaries, which rose from 21,653 to 22,472.

Those numbers more or less jibe with figures presented Monday to the city council's Public Safety Committee, in which the Dallas Police Department reported a decrease in most crimes when comparing reported crime stats through the end of May for 2007 and 2008. In fact, the only area in which there's an increase is, indeed, in burglaries of residences and businesses -- and they're up by 9.8 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively. That is, if you believe any of the numbers at all. --Robert Wilonsky