US Crime Rates 1960 to 2008

The Free-Range Kids blog (at http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/) notes that the crime rate in America is back to where it was in the early ’70s and provides a link to http://bjsdata.ojp.usdoj.gov/dataonline/Search/Crime/State/RunCrimeStatebyState.cfm

So I thougPublish Postht I'd have a look at the figures. After cutting and pasting the data, I ended up with some nice looking charts, reproduced below (click image for larger version).

Leads me to two questions:

1. I wonder how Australia's crime rates (per 100,000 people) compare and whether they follow a similar pattern.
2. Whether the pattern correlates with other patterns, such as increases in economic conditions - given that poverty and crime are innately linked. I wonder if the rates peaked in 2009 / 2010 due to the US economic downturn and "Global Financial Crisis"