9/18/96 -- 08:51CDT -- Vol. 2, No. 262
Bureau of Justice Statistics Says Crime Down 9%
By: ENN News Team
WASHINGTON (ENN) - The United States government reported on Tuesday that the number of violent crimes in the U.S. dropped more than nine percent in 1995, continuing a downward trend that started in 1994. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said, "We have moved from gridlock to solutions that work."
According to the preliminary estimates by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there were almost 9.9 million violent crimes in 1995. That was one million less than were committed in 1994. The final report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics is scheduled to be out next spring.
The report indicated the following as compared to 1994:
Rape was down nearly 18 percent from 432,700 to 354,670. Robbery decreased by 14 percent from 1.3 million to 1.1 million. Assault fell 8 percent from 9.1 million to 8.4 million. Aggravated assaults declined 24 percent from 678,500 to 516,500.The number of property crimes also fell 5.6 percent in 1995. There were 29.3 million property crimes, 1.7 million less than there was in 1994.
Criminologists gave a number of reasons for the continuing decline in crime. Among the most popular theories were a rather good economy and an aging population. Jack Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston, said, "The baby boomers have matured into their 30s and 40s. They are mellowing out, perhaps aging gracefully and they are graduating out of high risk violence and property crimes into white collar crimes, fraud and embezzlement."
"Right now we are at the point where there aren't a lot of people in the crime-prone years, 16-24," said James Fife, a criminal justice professor at Temple University. "But we can expect in the next ten years crime rates will increase significantly," he warned. Fife noted, "The better the economy, the less violent we are."
Many criminolgists consider the survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics to be a very reliable indicator of crime in the United States. That's because the survey also includes crimes that were not reported to the police. It is believed that only 40 percent of all crimes are reported to the police.