ST. LOUIS • Despite the sagging economy, joblessness and a home foreclosure crisis, crime went down slightly in 2009 — nationally and in much of the St. Louis area — according to statistics compiled by the FBI and released Monday.

Across the U.S., violent crime fell 5.3 percent last year, and property crime fell 4.6 percent, the FBI said. Several St. Louis-area jurisdictions appear to have followed that trend.

The report tallies crimes reported by nearly 18,000 law enforcement agencies. It excludes most Illinois jurisdictions because that state's crime data collection is not compatible with other states.

The numbers have criminologists studying how recessions affect crime rates, said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist with the University of Missouri-St. Louis and president of the American Society of Criminology. "It seems to be something of a surprise that there have been no increases during the current recession, when in past recessions, we've seen crime rates go up," he said.

He is studying how two factors — the absence of inflation and a somewhat stagnant street drug market for cocaine, crack and heroin — may be affecting crime trends.

Rosenfeld said drugs such as heroin and crack exploded onto the drug scene, along with the violent crime associated with them, during previous economic downturns. But recently, he said, "We've not seen steep increases in prices, and inflation is at historic lows." He added, "The absence of inflation could help explain why we're not seeing crime increases this time around."

Many of the large area municipalities also saw decreases in property crimes: larceny, burglary, auto theft and arson. A few of the area's bigger cities, including St. Charles and Maryland Heights, saw slight increases in either violent and property crime, or both.

Violent crime in St. Louis fell by less than 1 percent last year from 2008, the report says. The number of murders dropped about 14 percent, to 143 from 167. The city had small increases in rape, robbery and larceny, with a 2.79 percent fall in overall property crime.

Two of Missouri's large cities saw increases in violent crime: Springfield was up 12 percent, Columbia up 28 percent. Kansas City's violent crime was up less than 1 percent.

In the St. Louis County police jurisdiction, violent crime was down almost 13 percent.

Officer Rick Eckhard said one reason for the decline could be a rise in community help for the police. He said enrollments in neighborhood watches and citizens police academies were up. Neighborhood meetings held by his department after high-profile crimes have been standing-room-only.

"Nationwide, crime is being reduced, and a lot of people are having a difficult time putting their finger on why, because so many factors go into it," Eckhard said. "In our community, we have put officers in areas that need attention, and getting better support from the citizens is definitely a plus."

Violent crime was down about 20 percent in unincorporated St. Charles County. St. Charles city saw a 5.3 percent rise in violent crime and a 2.96 percent climb in property crime.

Counties in St. Louis' outer areas saw, in general, larger decreases. While Jefferson County had a less than 1 percent drop in violent crime, it saw a 25 percent decrease in property crime.

In Lincoln County, violent crime dropped 7 percent while property offenses sank by 44 percent.

Warren County's reports of violent crime dropped nearly 73 percent, while property crimes decreased about 6 percent.