2.9% Drop in Crime Reported; Violent Offenses Rise Slightly

Violent crime rose slightly last year, but Americans experienced a drop in total crime of almost 3%, the government reported Sunday.

New Justice Department crime figures for 1990 showed that violent crime rose by 0.5%--from 5,861,040 incidents to 5,892,580 incidents.

But total crime in the United States dropped 2.9%, according to preliminary figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. There were 34.8 million personal and household crimes in 1990, compared to 35.8 million in 1989, the Justice Department agency reported.

“The overall decrease results largely from last year’s 8% decline in the rate of personal thefts without direct contact between the victim and the offender,” said Steven Dillingham, director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

“Those thefts, which involve such offenses as stealing personal belongings from public places or from an unattended automobile parked away from home, comprise 95% of all personal thefts and about 66% of all crimes against individuals,” Dillingham said.

The largest increase in crime last year occurred in the category of automobile theft--which rose 19% to a total of 1.4 million “completed” car, van and truck thefts and 770,000 “attempted” thefts.

The figures are derived from Census Bureau interviews. About 97,000 people in 48,000 homes were interviewed, the Justice Department said. They were asked about any crimes they may have experienced in the previous six months.

The numbers showed that about 13.3 million personal and household crimes were reported to police last year--similar to the 1989 figure.

Significantly, however, 62% of offenses “were never brought to official attention,” the Justice Department said.