in the United States are committed by persons under the age of 30 years old. When multiple offender crimes of violence are considered, the number of such violent acts attributed to persons under the age of 21 years old leaps to 41 percent from the 29 percent level for single offender acts of violence. In 1992, there were 1,330,392 single offender violent criminal acts committed or by persons under the ages of 21 years old, while 757,989 multiple offender violent criminal acts were committed or by persons under the ages of 21 years old (Bureau of Justice Statistics 59, 64). Violent perpetrators and victims of violence both tend to be young. The Healthy People 2000 program is an effort by the United States Public Health Service (1 619) to reduce the level of violence in American society. With respect to violence in American society, the objectives of the program are as follows:
1. Reduce the murder rate to 7.2 per 100,000 persons.
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