In 1995, an F.B.I. annual crime survey of eight major cities indicated the lowest murder rate in a decade and the lowest overall rate of violent crime since 1989. Forty-nine percent of the victims were black.
Handguns alone account for more than half of all murders.
Fifty-five percent of murder victims were slain by strangers or unknown persons. Since 1990, reports of child abuse have quadrupled. Approximately 2.4 million cases of child abuse, child sexual abuse and child neglect are reported to child protective agencies each year. Furthermore, it is estimated that nearly two million children under age 18 are affected in some way by the substance abuse of their parents. The number of prisoners in federal or state prisons in 1995 reached a record high of 1.13 million.