U.S. crime drops in first half of 2009, FBI says

Violent crime in all four regions of the country measured by the FBI fell. The only region that saw an uptick in property crimes was the southern United States, inching up 0.7 percent during the first half of 2009, the FBI said.

There was also a small increase in violent crimes in cities with populations of 10,000 to 24,999, rising 1.7 percent.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, additional reporting by Basil Katz in New York, editing by Will Dunham and Bill Trott)