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

DATE: TUESDAY, May 23, 1995                   TAG: 9505230083
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

RICHMOND NEAR WORST IN MURDERS

Of the 185 cities in the United States with populations above 100,000, only New Orleans recorded a greater number of killings.

The rate for Richmond was 79.1 per 100,000 people. In New Orleans, the rate was 86.8. Third was Gary, Ind., with a rate of 68.5.

Richmond has been near the top of the annual list for several years, and city officials blame drug-driven crime for much of the carnage. Richmond was sixth on the list in 1993, with a rate of 55.3 per 100,000 people.

Nationally, FBI figures released over the weekend show that serious crime reported to police recorded a small decline in 1994. It was the third consecutive annual decline.

The FBI said police reports of seven major crimes dropped 3 percent last year from 1993. That included a 4 percent decline in violent crimes and a 3 percent reduction in the far more numerous property crimes, the bureau said.

Declines occurred in every region of the country and in cities of almost every size in 1994.

Richmond Police Chief Jerry A. Oliver said crime is down this year, and the city probably will not be listed among the worst for murders for 1995.

``If we keep on the path we're going now, we will not have the dubious distinction we now have,'' Oliver said.

The 160 murders in Richmond last year were by far the most ever in the city and twice the number recorded as recently as 1987.