North Carolina Crime Rate Down

Law enforcement officials say North Carolina’s crime rate in 2009 was the lowest in a quarter-century.

The statistics released by the office of Attorney General Roy Cooper show particlar improvements in violent crimes. Murders were down 19 percent and robberies were down 18 percent.

The overall violent crime rate fell 12.5 percent while the state’s crime rate including property crimes fell about 9 percent. That was the largest drop since the state began collecting numbers in 1973.

Cooper said that there’s more the state can do to make communities safe. He touted a new law that allows law enforcement to collect DNA samples from some felony arrests.