text: This BJS Crime Data Brief outlines the primary findings of and new additions to the section of the BJS website about homicide patterns and trends since 1976. Homicide is of interest not only because of its severity but also because it is a fairly reliable barometer of all violent crime. At a national level, no other crime is measured as accurately and precisely. Topics covered include long term trends, demographic trends, multiple victims and offenders, infanticide, eldercide, homicides by intimates, law enforcement officers killed, weapons trends, regional trends, and trends by city size. The data analyzed are from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program particularly the Supplementary Homicide Reports.