THE REPORT OPENS WITH BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CRIME REPORTING IN IOWA--OFFENSE CLASSIFICATIONS, METHODS OF REPORTING AND ANALYSIS, FACTORS RELATED TO CRIME, LIMITATIONS OF THE REPORT. STATE-LEVEL DATA ON CRIME INCIDENCE AND RATES INCLUDE BREAKDOWNS BY SPECIFIC OFFENSE (MURDER, NEGLIGENT MANSLAUGHTER, FORCIBLE RAPE, ROBBERY, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, BURGLARY, LARCENY, AUTO THEFT), BY POPULATION-SIZE CATEGORY, BY TYPE OF OFFENSE (VIOLENT OR PROPERTY), AND BY JUDICIAL DISTRICT. RATES OF CHANGE FROM 1975 TO 1976 ARE REPORTED. STATISTICS ON CRIME INCIDENCE AND RATES ARE ALSO BROKEN DOWN BY COUNTY, STANDARD METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA, AND CITY. CITIES AND COUNTIES ARE RANKED BY THEIR CRIME RATES (TOTAL, VIOLENT AND PROPERTY, AND SPECIFIC OFFENSES), AND COMPARISONS OF CRIME RATES AND CRIME RATE RANKS ARE DOWN BETWEEN 1975 AND 1976. ALSO INCLUDED IS A TABLE RELATING CRIME RATES TO POPULATON DENSITY. ARREST STATISTICS INCLUDE NUMBERS OF ARRESTS AND ARREST RATES FOR SPECIFIC OFFENSES AND SPECIAL JURISDICTIONS, CLEARANCE RATES, AND DATA ON THE CHARACTERISTICS (AGE, SEX, RACE) OF ARRESTEES. DATA ON ASSAULTS AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE ALSO PROVIDED. THE REPORT SHOWS THAT THE TOTAL INCIDENCE OF REPORTED CRIME IN IOWA INCREASED FROM 112,585 IN 1975 TO 116,097 IN 1976. VIOLENT CRIME DECREASED, AND PROPERTY CRIME INCREASED. MOST (80.9 PERCENT) CRIME WAS REPORTED IN CITIES, WITH ONLY 12.5 PERCENT OCCURRING IN RURAL AREAS. THE LOWEST VIOLENT CRIME RATE WAS FOUND IN SUBURBAN CITIES WITH POPULATIONS OF 5,000 TO 10,000. SUBURBAN CITIES IN GENERAL DID NOT ADHERE TO THE STATEWIDE TREND TOWARD A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POPULATION SIZE AND CRIME RATE. THE GREATEST INCREASE IN CRIME RATES (16.4 PERCENT) OCCURRED IN NONSUBURBAN CITIES WITH POPULATONS OF 5,000 TO 10,000. DESPITE THE GENERAL INCREASE IN CRIME RATES, THERE WAS A DECREASE IN ARREST RATES FOR SERIOUS CRIMES IN CITIES. CLEARANCE RATES WERE HIGHER FOR VIOLENT CRIMES THAN FOR PROPERTY CRIMES AND AS WAS THE CASE WITH CRIME RATES VARIED CONSIDERABLY FROM CITY TO CITY, EVEN WITHIN POPULATION-SIZE GROUPS. PROPERTY CRIME TENDED TO BE COMMITED BY JUVENILES, VIOLENT CRIMES BY ADULTS. THE RISE IN ASSAULTS AGAINST LAW OFFICERS (17.6 PERCENT) WAS DUE ENTIRELY TO ASSAULTS THAT DID NOT RESULT IN INJURY; THERE WAS A REDUCTION IN INJURY-CAUSING ASSAULTS (OF 18.2 PERCENT). NARRATIVE SUMMARIES ACCOMPANY 65 TABLES AND 37 FIGURES. SEE VOLUME 2 (NCJ-52607) FOR ADDITIONAL STATISTICS. (LKM)