Violent crimes including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault dropped 9.38 percent in Fairfax County in the first quarter of 2008 when compared to the first quarter of 2007.  Property crimes including burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft increased 24.21 percent for the same time period. The increase in property crimes is fueled by the number of larcenies occurring in the county and mirrors what appears to be happening in other localities in the region.

The crime statistics used for the comparison are index crimes reported to federal authorities. Index crimes include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

The following table is a comparison of index crimes for the first quarters of 2007 and 2008.

Monthly reports of index crimes are valuable tools used by commanders throughout the Department to help determine where to target enforcement, information and education efforts.