**LEAD STORY**
In a report that was issued by a commission of crime experts in early January, it was said that violent crime in the United States is a ticking bomb ready to explode. In a contradiction of official statistics that say crime levels are dropping, The Council on Crime in America said in their report that crime "remains at historic highs. America is a ticking violent crime bomb, and there is little time remaining to prepare for the blast." The commission took special note of the rise of crime by youthful offenders.
The Council on Crime in America is headed by former United States Attorney General Griffin Bell and by former national drug czar William Bennett. Other members of the commission include the state attorneys general from Florida and Colorado and a Philadelphia prosecutor. The ten man commission painted a very grim picture of the criminal mayhem that is occurring in the United States.
According to the commission, the official FBI crime statistics are only the tip of the iceberg of what is really happening on the streets of the nation's cities. The report that was issued said that the crime rate, which was based upon surveys of victims and not just only on crimes reported to the police, show that violent crime was almost six times higher than what is officially reported. Official statistics said that in 1993 there were about two million violent crimes reported to authorities. But based upon victims reports, the commission estimated that there were actually 11 million violent crimes committed in 1993.
The council said that the risk of person becoming a victim of violent crime in the United States was greater than being injured in an autombile accident. 51.5 per 1,000 adults a year compared to 22 per 1,000.
The report said that the fastest growing category of homicide in the United States was murder by street gangs. The commonly-held view that most murders are committed against people who know one another is no longer true. The report said that most murders were now being committed by strangers.
(c) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All rights reserved.