US violent crime fell slightly in the United States last year, the FBI said on Monday, despite a marked uptick over the past several months in homicides across the country.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in its annual report, said there were 1,165,383 violent crimes across the country last year -- a 0.2 percent decline when compared to 2013.
Among the crimes which were down were murders, attempted murders, rapes and assaults, the FBI said.
The reported drop in violent crime in 2014 comes amid a new uptick, as police departments in America's largest cities report renewed increases this year in murders and assaults.
They attribute the rise to a sharp increase in the use of illegal drugs and increased activity by drug gangs.
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