Ann Arbor had the state"s lowest violent-crime rate last year, according to the FBI"s 2000 Uniform Crime Reports released yesterday.

The Lansing/East Lansing and Grand Rapids/Muskegon/Holland areas also had low violent-crime rates, while the Detroit, Flint and Kalamazoo metropolitan areas had the highest rates of violent-crime within Michigan.

Ann Arbor Police Chief Daniel Oates said the report"s statistics compliment the quality of life in Ann Arbor.

"It also says nice things about the combined services of the U of M police force and the Ann Arbor Police Department," Oates said. "I want to believe that a portion of this is attributed to the effort we all place on community policing, building and maintaining partnerships with our (constituents) and staying on top of crime issues."

Violent crimes include aggravated assault, robbery, forcible rape, murder and manslaughter.

The Crime Index total, which measures the national average for violent and property crimes, decreased 0.2 percent (or 11.6 million offenses) last year. This marked the lowest figure since 1978. Crime Index offenses occurred most often during the summer months, particularly in July and August.

The overall Crime Index rate was highest in Flint, followed by Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, Detroit, Benton Harbor, Jackson, Grand Rapids/Muskegon/Holland, Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, Lansing/East Lansing and Ann Arbor successively.

Oates said he hopes AAPD can maintain low figures from 2000 despite the reduction in staff incurred by the department in January as a result of city budget cuts.

"There is also an issue out there with the downturn of the economy in maintaining the same level of service," Oates said. "That may affect all government services."

Midwestern states had a 0.6 percent decrease of Crime Index offenses since 1999 and had an average of 427.8 violent crimes for every 100,000 inhabitants the lowest violent crime rate nationwide.

The number of arrests for murder, forcible rape, robberies, burglaries and assaults nationwide were down in 2000.

Larceny-theft crimes, such as pocket-picking, purse-snatching, shoplifting, bicycle theft, vehicle theft and theft from buildings, were up 0.2 percent and made up about 60 percent of crimes nationwide. Under this category, Midwestern states had the highest percentage of motor vehicle accessories theft and the lowest percentage of pocket-picking incidents.