Violent Crime Rate Down 5% in 1992

Violent crime in Orange County decreased by 5% in 1992 compared to the year before, according to statistics released Thursday by Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren.

The California Crime Index, which measures the rate of crime in the state, showed that although 173 homicides occurred in the county in 1992--18 more than the previous year--other crimes such as rape, robbery and aggravated assault were down 7.8%, 7.1% and 3.2%, respectively.

In all, 13,555 violent crimes were reported in the county in 1992, while 13,967 were reported in 1991.

Statewide, violent crime decreased by 3.1%, according to the report.

“While we must be cautious about drawing too many conclusions from one year-to-year comparison,” Lungren said, “these numbers indicate that while some progress is being made at chipping away at the overall crime rate, the violence present in our state and our society continues to grow at a totally unacceptable pace.”