Statement by the President Upon Receiving a Report on Crime in the District of Columbia.

I AM ENCOURAGED by the report on crime in the District of Columbia in April which I have today received from Chief John B. Layton of the Metropolitan Police Department. The added efforts and added resources which have been thrown into the war against crime in the District during the past 9 months have begun to show results.

In April, for the first time since June 1962, the number of Part I offenses* reported in the District decreased--by 7.3 percent--from the number reported during the same month of the previous year.

*Part I offenses are: criminal homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, housebreaking, grand larceny, petit larceny, and auto theft.

For 6 consecutive months crime index offenses (which include all Part I offenses except negligent homicide, nonforcible rape and larceny under $50) have decreased from the prior year. The decrease in April was an encouraging 12.8 percent.

For 6 consecutive months reports of housebreaking have been fewer than in the previous year.

For 6 consecutive months reports of auto thefts have been fewer than in the previous year.

In 7 of the past 9 months, and for the last a months, reports of robberies have been fewer than in the previous year.

I am likewise encouraged by the fact that there has also been a decrease in juvenile delinquency in the District. Notwithstanding an increase in the total number of young people in the District, the number of complaints recorded by the Juvenile Court during the first quarter of 1966 was 23 percent below those recorded during the first quarter of 1965. There has been a downward trend in juvenile delinquency for over a year.

There is no reason for complacency in these figures, but there is reason for hope, and for confidence that we can do better.

I have urged Chief Layton to continue the fine efforts of the Police Department. I am grateful to all those other parts of the Washington community who have helped--the news media, the parents, the schools, the many dedicated people who are bringing hope and opportunity to those who never dared to hope.

There is nothing more to be desired than a National Capital free of crime. I will continue to work toward that goal, and I am looking forward to the report of the District of Columbia Crime Commission to suggest additional steps that can be taken.