The FBI released its Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report on Monday, May 24th with the news that the United States experienced a 5.5 percent drop in the number of reported violent offenses and a 4.9 percent decline in the number of reported property offenses in 2009. This drop in crime came at a time when prison growth rates fell from previous years and when state corrections spending grew at a much lower rate than the previous year. As with many state-funded programs and services during the current, challenging economic times, corrections budgets are not growing at the same rates as previous years; and many states are looking for innovative ways to reduce the amount of money they spend on corrections while implementing more effective public safety strategies.