Violent Crime on the decrease?

No simple solution for solving violent crimes Posted Oct. 29, 2002 -- Murder, rape and other violent crimes committed throughout the country are up from last year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was the first time in a decade that crimes have shown a year-to-year increase. The statistics are from the FBI report "Crime in the United States," an annual survey of crimes reported by 17,000 law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Murders were up …

…four times that of married persons. Location: Westerners and Midwesterners experienced greater violent crime rates than did Northeasterners and Southerners. And city dwellers experienced higher violence, robbery, total assault and simple assault at rates higher than their suburban and rural counterparts. About a third of female victims of violent crime, rape or sexual assault said the offender was a stranger. More than half (54 percent) of male victims of violence said the offender was a stranger.