CRIME RATE IN U.S. HIGHER

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31322, 18 March 1967, Page 20

CRIME RATE IN U.S. HIGHER

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) WASHINGTON, March 17. Serious crime in the United States rose by 11 per cent last year, compared with 1965, and the rise was fairly consistent throughout the nation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reports.

On an average, the police solved 25 per cent of all serious crimes, ranging from murder and rape to burglary and car theft. This was a slight drop from the previous year, the report said. But the authorities solved 89 per cent of murders, which increased by 9 per cent across the country. Forcible rape and serious assault went up 10 per cent and robbery with violence increased 14 per cent, the Director of the F. 8.1., Mr J. Edgar Hoover, reported New York topped the nation’s big cities in every crime category. It had 653 murders, 1761 rapes, and

120.903 burglaries in 1966. No comparative figures were given for 1965. Chicago, legendary crime city of the 19205, had 115 more murders last year than in 1965, but Los Angeles had 23 less. The dip in the rate of crimes solved was apparently due mostly to the fact that only 14 per cent of larger money thefts resulted in the arrest of the criminal. This crime category, along with burglaries, was by far the most frequent.

Mr Hoover noted a sharp rise of 23 per cent in the number of serious assaults where a gun was used. Six out of every 10 murders were committed with firearms, he said. He used these figures as the basis for a new appeal for laws restricting the availability of firearms in the United States. Proposed legislation is before Congress, but no action has yet been taken.