Homicides were down, car thefts were down, bank hold-ups were down, even house burglaries were down. 2003 seems to have been a better year than 2002 for crime in Rome according to figures released by the prefect's office. The only crimes that showed an increase in 2003 over the previous year were fraud and random bag snatching (scippi). According to the prefect's figures there were 36 homicides in Rome in 2003 compared with 54 in 2002; 37,123 car thefts compared with 41,315, 186 bank hold-ups compared with 227; and 16,095 house burglaries compared with 16,237. Incidents of fraud totalled 8,565 in 2003 compared with 4,210 in 2002 and reported bag snatchings were 3,700 compared with 2,803 the previous year.