Did violence fall after property crime?

The research explores why crime rates have fallen steeply in high-income countries in recent decades. Here we address violence, which is arguably the most important remaining area of research relating to the crime drop in relation to the security hypothesis. We explore evidence suggesting that violence fell later than property crime and offer a preliminary explanation. The delayed fall in violence seems to be about three years after the onset of declines in property crime. The explanation we offer is that violence fell as a knock-on effect of declining property crime which fell due to improved security. The delayed effect on violent crime is, we contend, mediated by the impact of more and better security upon offenders of different ages.