With all the economic turmoil, this is really rather surprising.

Reported violent crimes in the U.S. declined 6.2 percent in the first six months of this year, the FBI said.

In its preliminary report for January through June 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said there was a 2.8 percent decline in property crimes compared with the first half of 2009.

Fueling the decline were a 10.7 percent drop in robberies and a 7.1 percent decrease in murders, the bureau said today. Rapes fell 6.2 percent and aggravated assaults declined 3.9 percent.

The report showed that previous crime decreases are continuing. In September, the FBI said violent crime in 2009 declined for the third year in a row. The violent crime rate last year fell 5.3 percent, and property crime declined 4.6 percent.