AG
SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 1997                            (202) 514-2008
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
                STATEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL RENO
         ON THE CRIME FIGURES FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 1996


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Attorney General Janet Reno issued the
following statement regarding the five percent decrease in violent
crime reported for the first six months of 1996, by the Uniform
Crime Reporting Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigations:  


     "This is the fifth year in a row that figures for the first
six months of the year show a decline in serious crime, the longest
period of declining crime rates since 1969.  Our tough, smart crime
fighting strategy is making a difference, with more police on the
streets, fewer guns in the wrong hands, more prosecutors and more
jail cells to keep criminals behind bars.  We have made progress,
but we have much more to do." 



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