Reuters: Amid Nationwide Drop in Crime, Murders Soar in Boston

While overall crime rates are down nationwide for the fourth-straight year, the number of murders in Boston spiked in 2010, according to the FBI.

Reuters reports that while the nation's murder rate dropped 4.4 percent from 2009, Boston's rate jumped 46 percent. That's according to preliminary numbers from the FBI.

There were 73 murders in Boston in 2010, up from 50 in 2009.

Boston isn't alone. Several other cities in the Northeast saw more murders in 2010, including New York City and Newark.

Boston crime rates fell in every category other than murder and robberies: overall violent crime, forcible rape, aggravated assault, property crime, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.

Here is a direct link to the Massachusetts section of the FBI report, which was released today.