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

DATE: SUNDAY, November 19, 1995                   TAG: 9511210021
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-19   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

VIOLENT CRIME IN CITIES DIPS

But arrests of youths under age 18 for violent crimes surged by 7 percent. ``That's the dark cloud behind the silver lining of the nice drop'' in total reported crime, said Alfred Blumstein, a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. ``There's less crime from older offenders but more crime among younger offenders.''

``This is the calm before the crime storm,'' said James Alan Fox, dean of Northeastern University's College of Criminal Justice in Boston. ``An impending crime wave of teen violence is facing us as the adolescent population begins to rise in America. There are 39 million children under age 10, more than we've had for decades.''

The FBI report, being released today, showed that the number of teens under 18 arrested for murder rose 158.3 percent from 1985 through 1994.

The FBI's annual count of seven major crimes reported to police found 13,991,675 offenses last year - a 1 percent drop from 1993. The total peaked at 14,872,900 in 1991.

The violent crimes counted are murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; the property crimes are burglary, larceny, and auto theft. The figures are drawn from reports by 16,000 police agencies. Justice Department surveys consistently show that less than half of all crime, even violent crime, is reported to police.

The number of violent crimes reported dropped 3 percent, slipping below 1.9 million for the first time since 1990. In cities with more than 1 million residents, the number of violent crimes was down 8 percent.

Cities overall recorded a 4 percent decline in violent crimes, suburban counties showed no change, and rural counties had a 4 percent increase.

In Virginia, major crimes reported to police in 1994 fell 0.7 percent from 1993.

``Drug markets are maturing in big cities and the murders are down, but drugs came later to smaller cities and rural areas,'' Blumstein said. ``When [drug dealers] start, they are aggressive and feisty; but as major players begin to dominate, there's a recognition of each other's turf. We saw that with organized crime, the Mafia organizations.''

The nation's rate of violent crime was 716 offenses for every 100,000 residents. The violent crime rate, which corrects for population growth, was down 4 percent from 1993 but remained 29 percent higher than in 1985.

Fox said the slowing of violent crime reflects the continuing passage of the huge baby boom generation into middle age, when criminal activity drops. Adult arrests for violence remained unchanged in 1994, despite population growth.

In addition, Blumstein said, ``We've doubled the prison population in the last decade.''

Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., chairman of the House crime subcommittee, said, ``Some of the dip can be attributable to making prisoners serve greater lengths of their sentence.''

Fox said efforts to reduce juvenile crime need to be ``aimed at the prime time for juvenile crime. Forty percent of juvenile offenses occur between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Parents aren't home; neighbors aren't home; schools are closed, and after-school programs shut. They have too much time to kill, in more ways than one.''