Evening star., 1954-10-26
Decrease in FeIonies
Begins 10 Show Up in
Number Of Prisoners

The decrease In the number
Of serious crimes here is be-
ginning to show up in admissions
to the Districts jail and re-
formatory.
The correctional institutions.
the Council on Law Enforcement
was told yesterday, still have
plenty Of business, but the num-
ber Of prisoners charged with
felonies has gone down.
Corrections Director Donald
Clemmer gave these figures:
In the first quarter Of 1854
fiscal year. 698 prisoners were
admitted to correctional insti-
tutions here for felonies. This
dropped to 594 in the last quar-
ter Of fiscal 1854. and to 418 in
the frst quarter Of fiscal 1855.
.s MisdemeanOrs Increase.
But Mr.. Clemmer's figures
showed business Is still booming
with niisdemeanors. Total ad-
missions in the first quarter of
fiscal 1854 amounted to 7,OO7,
dropping to CATS in the last
quarter Of the year but rising
to 7.117 in the first quarter of
this fiscal year.
These figures were borne ont
by a report from the parole
board. which noted an increase
In reformatory population from
1,556 In the first quarter of fiscal
1854 to 1901 in the first quarter
Of fiscal 1855.
The parole board reported that
1t heard 1877 cases during the
nrst quarter Of this year and
took favorable action in 26 per
cent Of the cases.
The council also got a report
from Police Chief Robert v. Mur-
ray, showing that crime is still
on the wane here although the
drop was not as spectacular in
September as it has been in the
last few months.
Gives Figures in Decrease.
He reported ago per cent de-
crease in serious crime in july
compared to the number in the
same month a year ago. a Is
per cent decrease in August and
q per cent decrease in Sep
tember.
Chief Murray gave this COM
parison OF the number of serious
crimes IN July, August and Sep
tember Of this year compared
with the same period last year:
Criminal homicide Dropped
from 80 to 16, for a Al per cent
decrease.
Rape-Dropped from "A to At.
Tor q SO per cent decrease.
Robbery Dropped from 275
to 20S. for "a per cent decrease.
Aggravated assault-Increased
from 1919 to 1923, for an 8 per
cent increase.
! Housebreaking Dropped from
s58 to 1877. for an 18 per cent de-
crease.
Larceny-Dropped from 2,217
70 l.77S. for a 20 per cent de-
| crease.
Auto theft-Dropped from 541
to S74. for 81 per cent decrease.
Steady Decline in Robberies.
Chief Murray commented that
the decrease in the number of
rape cases was gratifying. be-
cause the number Of these crimes
had increased sharply last year.
As for robbery. he said, the
number Of these crimes has
been declining steadily since
July, 1858.
He said aggravated assault is
"basically q crime Of spontaneity
and. therefore. little affected by
police activity .
The number Of housebreaking
cases. he reported. has been de-
creasing since June, 1853, but he
warned that, during the past two
months. there has been an indi-
cation that figures for this
offense may increase or stay at
their present level. House.
breaking cases, he said, repre-
sent 18 per cent OF all serious
crimes here.
Thefts, he reported, have
dropped sharply and almost
constantly during the past 2l
months. while auto thefts have
decreased slowly since January.
1864.