Categorizing The Sept. 11 Deaths

Government statisticians are trying to figure out how the events of Sept. 11 should be categorized. The dozens of kidnappings, thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in property damage would send the crime rates in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania sky high if they were counted the usual way.

The Washington Post reported in Thursday's editions that the FBI may create a whole new category for the terrorist acts.

New York City's criminal justice coordinator favors the idea. Steven Fishner said the attacks were "totally out of the control of local law enforcement." Not including Sept. 11, New York's homicide rate dropped this year.

The bureau is looking at the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing as precedent. That city was declared one of the ten deadliest cities in the U.S. when the 168 deaths were listed as murders along with other murders in the city.

Maryvictoria Pyne, spokeswoman for the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services, told the Post in Thursday's editions: "We're in the discussion process now to try and decide how to deal with all of the factors that came with those events: Is it homicide, property damage, kidnapping? Or will there be a separate report or category that relates to terrorist activity?"

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