US violent crime falls again

Figures released in the United States show that the number of violent crimes has fallen to its lowest level since the government began keeping records twenty-seven years ago.

Almost thirty-million violent crimes and property crimes took place in 1999; that's a fall of more than ten-percent from the previous year.

But a BBC correspondent in Washington says the crime figures did not improve for some Americans, such as those on lower incomes and blacks.

A government statement said the figures showed that putting more police on the streets and controlling the availability of handguns had helped to create the safest America in a generation. The Republican candidate for the presidency, George W.

Bush, also claimed credit for the fall, saying that it was due to harsher laws being introduced locally by state governors such as himself.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service