
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 2, 1994                   TAG: 9404040193
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

CARJACKINGS HAVE RISEN NATIONWIDE, REPORT SAYS

Carjackings - random, unpredictable and usually involving guns - have increased in the past few years until they are as common as fatal car accidents, a Justice Department study released Friday shows.

From 1987 to 1992, an estimated 177,500 carjackings or attempted carjackings occurred, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

While most do not end in injury or the death for the victims, at least 60 percent involve handguns. The recent Los Angeles carjacking in which two college students, including one from Japan, were murdered, underscores the volatile nature of such crimes. Some experts believe the emergence of chance, confrontational offenses such as carjacking may be a reason why more Americans feel less secure, even though some crime rates have declined in recent years.

``In terms of people feeling vunerable, this is precisely the kind of crime that would heighten those feelings,'' said Daniel Rosenblatt, executive director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. ``It is random, virtually impossible-to-predict crime that is extremely personal with a great potential for harm.''

A recent FBI report, which was based on numbers obtained from state and major city police departments, shows slightly higher numbers of completed carjackings than the survey. In 1991 there were an estimated 19,000 such offenses. By 1992 the number had grown to 25,000. Statistics compiled for the first quarter of last year showed the number of carjacking cases declining.

by CNB