DETROIT — While Michigan still has many challenges, crime no longer appears to be one of them.

The violent crime rate peaked in 1986 in Michigan, with 803.9 violent offenses per 100,000 people, and was nearing half that amount by 2012 at 454.5 offenses, according to FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics.

Michigan State Police statistics show annual violent crimes from from 2008 to 2015 fell from 46,380 to 35,123 in Michigan. Violent crimes include murder and non-negligent manslaughter, criminal sexual conduct involving penetration, robbery and aggravated/felonious assault.

The rate of these violent crimes based on population has dropped each year, the state police statistics show, from 466 incidents per 100,000 people in 2008 to 353 violent crimes per 100,000 people in 2015. That’s a decrease of more than 24 percent.

Total offenses in Michigan, including non-violent offenses, fell from 9,806 annually to 7,587, a 23 percent decrease, statistics show.

There are a number of factors that contribute to why violent crime rates drop, such as population, demographic and economic changes or even new policing programs.

Flint and Detroit are members of the national Violence Reduction Network, a Department of Justice program that provides training, technical resources and other things to help fight violent crime.

Detroit joined when the program began in 2014, and Flint was added in 2015, joining a total of 13 cities with violence crime rates well above the national average.

It appears the program is helping, but too early to know empirically or through statistical data.

Michigan recorded 539 incidents of murder/non-negligent manslaughter in 2015, up 31 from the previous year.

While Genesee County saw 186 fewer violent crimes than the previous year, it had the largest increase in murder/non-negligent manslaughter deaths, going from 31 in 2014, to 50 in 2015.

Saginaw County had the biggest positive change in the category, dropping from 17 deaths to 8 from 2014 to 2015.

Considering total violent crime offenses, not adjusted for population, Washtenaw had the largest rise of 129 violent incidents, followed by Lenawee with 90 more and Kent with 87 more.