According to new statistics, residents of Maryland have something to be excited about. Preliminary data released by the FBI indicates a decrease in violent crime across the nation. And Maryland officials believe that violent crimes within the state have also gone down, although officials are not ready to release any stats yet. A violent crime may include forcible rape, robbery, non-negligent manslaughter, murder and aggravated assault.

The FBI compared its national data from January to June 2011 to the same time period in 2010. This comparison showed that the number of violent crimes decreased by more than 6 percent.

Though officials were not ready to release statewide figures for 2011, a spokesman with the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention said that data trends in the state indicate lower numbers of the aforementioned type of crimes. One positive trend is that in 2010, the state saw a decrease of 3.2 percent in its homicide rate.

The spokesman said that technology and government programs may have played a large role in the reduced number of violent crimes. License plate recognition technology and the governor's Violence Prevention Initiative have helped keep high-risk individuals from committing further crime by monitoring them more closely.

Despite the positive statements from the government, some counties were reporting increased rates of violent crimes. Baltimore County had 30 homicides occur this year, with more than half of them being domestic related. According to FBI data, Maryland had the eighth-highest violent crime rate in the nation during 2010.

While the stats are promising, it is important that innocent people are protected from overzealous government employees who want to do anything to lower the rate further, including prosecuting people for crimes they didn't commit.

Source: Colesville Patch, "Violent Crime Drops in U.S., Maryland," Lisa Rossi, Dec. 27, 2011