In fact,the overall crime rate for 1997 was the lowest in the past 24 years. For the first ten months this year,though there was a slight increase of 0.4% in the overall crime rate,the figure was still on the low side.

• 事实上，一九九七年的罪案率，是过去廿四年来最低的，而今年头十个月的整体罪案率虽然轻微上升了0.；4%25，但仍属偏低水平。