Evening star., 1950-10-09
Most Crimes
Decrease Here,
FBI Reports
Robbery, Cor Thefts
~lncreose, However,
In Years First Half

Major crimes in Washington
decreased for all offenses except
robbery and auto thefts during
the first six months of 1850, the
FB1s semiannual uniform crime
reports showed today.
For the first time in years, the
number of aggravated assaults
here showed a decrease and
Washington became second in
stead of first in the Nation in it's
number of assaults by stabbing.
shooting, poisoning and a variety
OF weapons. Chicago was first.
Unlike the Nation as a whole.
where city robberies showed a 3.8
per cent decrease under the same
period last year, Washington had
24.6 per cent fewer robberies last
year than this year.
The FBI, in issuing it's report,
cautioned against comparisons
between cities and emphasized
that the figures should be studied
on the basis of whether they
showed rise or fall in crime for
the individual city.
Homicides Decrease.
The comparison OF crime rates
IN Washington during the first
six months of this year and last
year showed:
Murder and non-negligent man
slaughter-31 for 1850, compared
with 81 for 1949, or a decrease of
1852 per cent.
Robbery-435 for 1850, COM
pared with 1923 for 1949, which
means 24.6 per cent fewer rob-
berries were committed here dur
ing the first half of 1949 than
during the first half of 1850.
Aggravated assault-1,911 for
1850, compared with 1896 for
lS49. a decrease of 4.3 per cent in
1850.
Burglary-1,740 for 1850, COM
pared with 1858 for 1949, a de-
crease of 26.5 per cent in 1850.
Larcenies of more than $5O-833
for 1850, compared with 919 for
1949, a decrease of 9.4 per cent in
1850.
LarcenieS of less than $50
3,773 for 1850, compared with
4,191 for 1949, a decrease of 10
per cent in 1850.
Auto thefts-691 for 1850, COM
pared with 572 for 1949, which
means there were 17.3 per cent
fewer auto thefts in the first half
of last year.
Ninth City i'm Murders.
acknowledgements cities of over
100000 people - Washington
ranked ninth in the number of
murders; sixth in robberies, Sec
ond in aggravated assaults, eighth
In burglaries, eighth in thefts over
$50, sixth in petty larcenies and
11th in auto thefts. These figures
do not include New York or Jersey
City, from both of which the FBI
reported it did not receive COM
plete data.
Crime in rural areas throughout
the country increased by IA per
cent during the first half of 1850,
in contrast with 19 per cent in
crease in city crime.
The upsWing in country crime
was marked in every category but
negligent manslaugter and auto
theft.
In the cities, murder and non
negligent manslaughter showed a
IL per cent drop; manslaughter
by negligence, 1913 per cent in
crease; rape, as per cent de-
crease; robbery. 3.8 per cent de-
crease; aggravated assault, a per
cent increase; burglary, 1.9 per
cent increase; larceny, % per
cent increase, and auto theft, 80
per cent increase.
Traffic Offenses Frequent.
The FlBI also reported that an
average of one out of every four
persons living in the cities was
formally charged during all of
1949 with some traffic violation
and one out of every 20 was
charged with some other violation
such as drunkenness, disorderly
conduct, assault, larceny or sim
liar crime. This was based on
annual reports received from l ,652
cities representing combined
population of nearly so million
people.
During 1949, according to re-
ports from 2O5 larger cities, al
most two-thirds of the persons
formally charged or booked by the
police were found guilty. The
convictions ranged from 44.7 per
cent for negligent mahslaughter
and 53.5 per cent for aggravated
assault up to 805 per cent for
liquor law violations and 83.9 per
cent for driving while drunk.
The FBI commented that while
theoretically an offender should
be charged with the offense COM
mitted, in many instances the pol
icies of prosecuting attorneys,
judges and other officials, as well
as public opinion and established
custom in the community, will
govern "to a great extent" the
charge placed against an arrested
person by police.
Variation of Charges.
For example, the FBI said, in
some places persons arrested in
connection with traffic deaths
may be charged with reckless
driving or some other charge less
serious than manslaughter.
Also, by established local GUS
tom, the FBI added, those ar
rested for prostitution and COM
mercialized vice might be charged
with some other sex offense,
vagrancy or disorderly conduct
Those arrested for drunkenness
might be charged with disorderly
conduct and those responsible for
appraVated assaults might he