This report is the product of a Committee of Experts, which consisted of scientists and scholars in the areas of criminology, sociology, and psychology, as well as representatives from the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Federal Statistical Office, and the Central Institute of Criminology. Data encompass official criminal justice statistics as well as data from crime victims. Compared to all previous statistical and other descriptions of the crime situation in Germany, this report provides a comprehensive picture of the various types of crime and their criminal prosecution, along with crime prevention efforts and recommendations. This report indicates that three out of four crimes known to the German police are property offenses that often cause only minimal damage. Serious crimes that harm individual citizens are comparatively rare occurrences. Robbery/extortion and assault accounted for only 1 percent of all crimes recorded by the police in 1999; rape/sexual coercion accounted for 0.1 percent, and murder/manslaughter for 0.05 percent. In the last three decades, the danger of being a victim of either rape/sexual coercion or murder/manslaughter has not increased according to police statistics. The long-term increase in crime recorded by the police is due largely to the development in the number of property crimes, especially widespread offenses such as petty theft. Certain violent offenses are also on the increase, particularly bodily injury and robbery. After presenting data and information on specific types of offenses, this report reviews Federal policies of crime control, with attention to victim services, crime prevention, child and juvenile delinquency, politically motivated crime, sexual offenses, Internet crime, immigration and crime, organized crime, economic crime, and drugs and crime.