July, 1996




                           Crime Data




                       Crime Down in 1995
________________


Preliminary statistics released by the FBI's Uniform Crime
Reporting Program show that the number of serious crimes reported
to U.S. law enforcement agencies decreased 2 percent in 1995,
when compared to 1994 data. This represents the fourth
consecutive annual decline in reported crime.


Serious crime is measured by an Index consisting of violent and
property crimes. Violent crime fell 4 percent last year, while
property crime declined 1 percent.


In the violent crime category, murder showed the greatest decline
in 1995--8 percent. With regard to the other violent offenses,
robbery dropped 7 percent; forcible rape, 6 percent; and
aggravated assault, 3 percent.


The property crime of motor vehicle theft was down 6 percent,
while both burglary and arson decreased 5 percent. Larceny-theft
was the only offense to show an increase from 1994 to 1995, up 1
percent.


Geographically, all regions of the country experienced decreases
in the overall Crime Index total.  The Northeast registered a
4-percent drop in crime, and crime in the Midwest fell 2 percent.
The South and West regions each recorded a 1-percent decline.
Violent and property crimes also declined in all regions, except
the West, where property crime remained at the 1994 level.


When grouped by population size, cities with over 1 million
inhabitants showed the largest decline, 6 percent. Cities with
populations from 500,000 to 999,999 and those with fewer than
25,000 inhabitants experienced a 1-percent increase. The crime
data for the 2-year period of 1994 and 1995 show that suburban
counties experienced a 1-percent decrease in their crime level,
while rural counties reported a 3-percent increase.


The complete Preliminary Annual Uniform                     
Crime Report is available on the FBI's Internet                   
World Wide Web site at http://www.fbi.gov.