USA - The Justice Department released its annual Uniform Crime Report for 2013.

The Justice Department released its annual Uniform Crime Report for 2013. The UCR revealed an overall decline of the national murder rate, from 4.7 in 2012 to 4.5 in 2013, a decline of 5.2%. The Northeast had the lowest murder rate--3.5 murders per 100,000 people--and the sharpest decline from last year (when it was 3.8). The South again had the highest murder rate, 5.3 (5.5 in 2012). The West had the second-lowest murder rate, 4.0 (4.2 in 2012), followed by the Midwest, 4.5 (4.7 in 2012). The states with the highest murder rates in the country were Louisiana (10.8) and Alabama (7.2). The states with the lowest rates were Iowa (1.4) and Hawaii (1.5). The Northeast has also had the fewest executions in the modern era, with 4, and none since 2005. The South has had the highest number of executions (1,132) since 1976. The average murder rate for states with the death penalty (4.4) was higher than the average rate for states without the death penalty (3.4). Among the ten states with the lowest murder rates, six have abolished the death penalty. Overall, as the use of the death penalty has declined, the murder rate has continued to fall. The FBI’s UCR Program is a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of more than 18,000 city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought to their attention. In 2013, law enforcement agencies active in the UCR Program represented more than 309 million United States inhabitants (98.0 percent of the total population). Nationwide, law enforcement made an estimated 11,302,102 arrests in 2013. Of these arrests, 480,360 were for violent crimes, and 1,559,284 were for property crimes. The UCR Program does not collect data on citations for traffic violations. The highest number of arrests were for drug abuse violations (estimated at 1,501,043 arrests), larceny-theft (estimated at 1,231,580), and driving under the influence (estimated at 1,166,824). In 2013, 27 law enforcement officers died from injuries incurred in the line of duty during felonious incidents.