Evening star., 1950-10-21
Assault Charqes
Dropped in 709d
OF Cases Here
Police Statistics for
Year Show 10,864
Major Crimes

thirds OF the men and women ar
rested for serious assaults dur
ing the past fiscal year wer'
dropped by prosecutors or tn,
courts, according to a new Polio,
Department report.
The number of aggravated as
suits in Washington was spot
lighted recently in the FBI Uni.
form Crime Reports. where it wa!
shown that Washington ranked
second in the country in attacks
with knives, pistols. poisons ane
other means.
Police long have complained
privately about the lack of prose
cutions in assault cases.
In the report for fiscal 1850 o1
the Police Departments statisti-
cal bureau. made public yesterday
the figures showed that Of the
1901 persons charged by police
with aggravated assault. 2,196 had
their cases dropped.
The remaining offenders were
sent to jail, referred to juvenile
authorities, appeared before the
grand jury, were still awaiting
action at the end of the fiscal
year were disposed of in some
other way.
The departments breakdown OF
the report showed that the second
precinct, in the heart of down.
town Washington, led all others as
the scene of major crimes.
The area, bounded by Fifteenth
K and S streets NV, and North
Capitol street, had more murders
80, more robberies (14D, more
aggravated assaults (903), more
larcenies and auto thefts than
any of the other 13 precints.
In all. the second precinct re-
port shows 1881 arrests. Nearest
precinct to that figure is the
first, with 1906.
10,864 in Major Crimes.
Of the 10,864 persons charged
with major crimes, ranging from
murder to larceny, 1865 were
white and 8,299 were colored. &C
cording to the report. This was
the u,sposition of the 10,864 cases:
Discussed, TIT; dropped, 1923;
no papers issued, 1886; sent to
Jail, 838; referred to juvenile au-
thorities, 3,403; sent to the grand
jury, 2,401; other dispositions, $50,
and pending, 287.
7 In the field of police work. the
report showed that, of the actual
major ofenses reported the fol-
lowing percentages were cleared
up:
Murder, 95.4 per cent cleared;
manslaughter. 100 per cent; neg
ligent homicide, 100 per cent; rape,
93.3 per cent; attempted rape,
97.9 per cent; robbery, 68.5 per
cent; attempted robbery, 72.7 per
cent; aggravated assault, 1928 per
cent; burglary, 37.9 per cent; at
tempted house breaking, 66.4 per
cent; thefts of over $50, 37.6 per
cent; thefts of under $50, 35 per
cent, and auto thefts, 1871 per
cent.
Recovery of Loot Higher.
Although police failed to find
the culprits in many of the theft
cases. they we're sometimes able to
recover the stolen property, parti-
cularly automobiles, the report
brought out. While they were able
to get back only 5.3 per cent of
the money taken, they recovered
70.4 per cent of the stolen auto
mobiles.
The report showed that $1,744,-
162 worth of property was stolen
and $709,467, or 407 per cent, Of
it was recovered, for a net loss of
$1.034,695.
For the first time, the statistical
analysis gave a complete break
down of all the elements involved
In traffic accidents for full year.
Here are some highlights of the
accident summary:
Collisions of cars with pedes-
trians figured in 2,123 of the acci-
dents, with fatalities in 43 of the
cases. The 65-to-74-year age group
had the greatest number of VIC
tins.
Fatality Causes.
The driver violations producing
the most fatalities were failing
to give full time and attention to
driving and failing to give the
right of way to a pedestrian. The
pedestrian actions that produced
the most fatalities were crossing
in a cross walk with no traffic
signal and crossing elsewhere than
at intersections.
Drivers in the 25-to-34-year age
group predominated in the acci-
dents. Although men drivers are
traditionally critical of their wives,
fewer than one-tenth of the total
of motorists figuring in accidents
were women.
Oddly enough, it wasn't high
speed that produced most of the
accidents. More accidents occurred
when drivers were proceeding at
a speed of from II to 20 miles an
hour than at any other speed.
The age of the car also was
calculated in the analysis, which
showed the largest number Of
accidents occurred with vehicles
over six years old.
AS for other conditions. the
largest number of accidents oc-
Cured in clear weather and DUR
ing the day.
n + Freedom SrrnIIs