The number of cases reported for penal code offenses had increased sharply,registering a new post World War II(WWII)high every year from1996(2,465,503cases)to2002(3,693,928cases).However,it turned to decline in2003,and decreased to3,427,606cases in2004,down by218,647cases(6.0%)from the previous year,but still remaining at a high level.
  The number of cases reported for larceny decreased by141,644cases(6.0%)from the previous year in2003and continued to decrease by254,270(11.4%)in2004.The overall decline was caused by a decline in larceny,which accounts for nearly60%of overall reported cases of penal code offenses.
  Table1-1-1-2 and Fig.1-1-1-3[1] show the number of cases reported for penal code offenses by type of offense. Table1-1-1-2 and Fig.1-1-1-3[2] show the number of persons cleared in2004,by type of offense.
  The crime rate for penal code offenses has shown almost the same trend as the number of reported cases,registering a new post WWII high every year from1998(2,127.2)to2002(2,898.7),turned to decline in2003,and decreased by172.7points from the previous year to2,684.4in2004,but still remaining at a high level.

Table1-1-1-2  Number of reported cases,number of cleared cases and persons cleared,and clearance rate for penal code offenses by type of major offense(2004)