Crime report a mixed bag

CARSON CITY -- Clark County had fewer murders and enjoyed a slightly higher crime-solving rate in 1997 than in the previous year, but overall crime is still on the rise, according to a state report.

The state Motor Vehicles and Public Safety Department Tuesday released its Crime and Justice in Nevada report showing that total offenses in Southern Nevada rose by 7 percent compared to the previous year.

Clark County accounted for 74 percent of the offenses committed in Nevada. The department estimated that one offense occurs every 5.7 minutes in the state.

The report said of the 76,258 offenses that occurred in Clark County in 1997, 18,544 were solved. That's slightly more than 24 percent, up four-tenths of a percent from 1996.

While the population rose in Southern Nevada, the number of murders fell from 200 in 1996 to 161 in 1997, a drop of 19.5 percent. The report said 72 of the murder cases were solved during the year.

All other categories of crime rose on the year-to-year comparison. Biggest increases were in the number of rapes, which jumped 21.7 percent to 739 in 1997, and car thefts, which numbered 11,627 -- a 20 percent increase.

The department said the number of robberies rose 3.5 percent to 4,397 in Clark County; assaults were up 6.5 percent to 5,604; burglaries increased 14.6 percent to 16,622; larcenies inched up 1 percent to 36,491; and the number of arsons increased to 617, up sixth-tenths of a percent.

Thirty-five criminal-justice agencies submit information to the state for the annual report, which is also forwarded to the FBI.

Statewide, the crime rate for 1997 was 57.74 offenses per 1,000 residents. That's up slightly from 1996 when the rate was 57.16. A state population of 1.7 million was used to compute the rate.

Violent crime increased by 4.4 percent statewide but the number of murders fell by 14.2 percent. Property crimes, which include burglary, larceny, car theft and arson, increased 6.8 percent.

Law enforcement cleared 24.5 percent of all crimes, an increase of 8.2 percent over 1996. Nationally, 21.8 percent of all crimes were cleared in 1996, the most recent year for which figures are available.

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