The Department of Public Safety says the overall crime rate in Texas dropped last year.
The DPS's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program covers eight crime categories, and gathers data from law enforcement agencies across the state. Overall, the crime rate in Texas from 2011 to 2012 dropped by over 3%.
Katherine Cesinger with DPS says that rate reflects various crimes, "These categories that are covered include things such as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, urglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson."
Cesinger says even though the overall crime rate went down in Texas, the number of violent crimes actually increased by over 1%.
The UCR that DPS uses is not as extensive as the national system used, called the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The NIBRS system covers the same eight catergories as the UCR, in addition to 38 other crime categories.