Reported Violent, Nonviolent Crimes Down in ‘94, FBI Says
Violent and nonviolent crimes reported to police dipped in 1994 for the third consecutive year, the FBI said Sunday. But experts said the figures conceal trouble ahead as teen-age boys commit murder at alarming rates.
Police reports of seven major crimes dropped 3% from 1993. That included a 4% decline in the violent crimes and a 3% reduction in property crimes, the bureau said.
The FBI’s preliminary annual report has no data on the age of offenders. But James Alan Fox of Northeastern University said final FBI data from 1985-93 show the number of adults age 25 or older committing murder decreased 20%. In the same period, homicides committed by 18- to 24-year-old males increased 65%, and those by 14- to 17-year-old males went up 165%.
In 1994, the FBI said, robbery dropped the most, by 6%. Murder and rape each were down 5% and aggravated assault declined 2%.
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