The Crime Clock at the beginning of the report notes that an average of 1 crime index offense occurred every 2 seconds nationally during 1996. This total included 1 violent crime (murder, forcible rape, robbery, or aggravated assault) every 19 seconds and 1 property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft) every 3 seconds. The crime index total dropped 3 percent to nearly 13.5 million offenses in 1996, the lowest annual serious crime count since 1986 and the fifth consecutive annual decline. Cities with populations of 1 million or more reported a 6-percent decrease. Crimes in the most populous southern States accounted for 40 percent of the total, followed by the western States with 24 percent, the midwestern States with 21 percent, and the northeastern States with 15 percent. The crime index rates ranged from 5,727 per 100,000 population in the south to 3,899 in the northeast. Law enforcement agencies nationwide recorded a 22-percent clearance rate for crime index offenses and made an estimated 2.8 million arrests for index crimes. Figures; tables; methodological summary; and appended methodological details, definitions, directory of State UCR Programs, lists of national telephone numbers and publications, and evaluation form