It's that time, when preliminary/midyear data are released by the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics regarding crime rates and incarceration for 2007.  In its preliminary crime rate report, the FBI finds:

"Preliminary figures indicate that, as a whole, law enforcement agencies throughout the Nation reported a decrease of 1.4 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to their attention in 2007 when compared with figures reported for 2006. The violent crime category includes murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The number of property crimes in the United States from January to December of 2007 decreased 2.1 percent when compared with data from the same time period in 2006. Property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. Arson is also a property crime, but data for arson are not included in property crime totals. Figures for 2007 indicate that arson decreased 7.0 percent in 2007 when compared to 2006 figures."

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Justice Statistics has released its midyear incarceration reports for both prisons and jails.  The prisons report notes a decline in the rate of population increase between midyear 2006 and midyear 2007.