Crime rate on decline in '92

Violent crimes reported to police edged up last year due to increases in aggravated assaults and rapes, but the total number of crimes reported dropped 2.9 percent to 14.4 million, the FBI announced Saturday. This was the first decline since 1984.

The rate of crime - the number of reported crimes per 100,000 US inhabitants - dropped 4 percent to 5,660, the lowest level since 1987. The violent crime rate fell 0.1 percent, and the property crime rate went down 4.6 percent. The rates take into account the nation's increasing population.