Germany-Crime-Teenagers
The violent juvenile crime rate surged in Germany last year, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble announced Thursday in Berlin where he unveiled the latest police crime statistics for 2007.

He pointed to a 6.3 percent increase of assault and battery, calling it extremely worrisome.

Meanwhile, the overall number of registered criminal offenses dipped 0.3 percent or 19,562 cases to 6.3 million.

The clear-up rate of criminal acts stood at 55 percent, reaching almost the best level in 2006.

According to the latest figure, the number of violent crime cases among teenagers increased 4.9 percent.

The total number of suspects rose 0.5 percent to 2.3 million.

Schaeuble alleged that Germany was "still one of the safest countries in the world."