Police to Dichter: Murders down 21 percent in 2007

As police prepared to present their annual summary of police and crime data for 2007, one apparent point of light appeared Thursday morning, when police top brass presented data to Public Security Minister Avi Dichter that indicated a 21 percent drop in murders in 2007 as compared to the previous year. Dichter, in return, instructed police to further examine the data in order to find the strong points and weak points in the police's fight against violence and to understand the reason behind the decline in the number of murders.