Figures will be unveiled by Chief Constable Willie Rae on Thursday

Crime rates, to be presented by Strathclyde Police on Thursday, show a fall in serious crimes of violence between April and December 2005.

The force recorded 41 murders - a drop of 36.9% on the same period last year - while attempted murder fell by 24%.

However racially aggravated conduct was up by 16.4% and the number of rapes increased by 12, or 5%.

Recorded crime over the nine month period fell by 8,634 incidents.

Detections increased slightly with 43.8% of all crimes solved.

'Contain and manage'

The fall comes more than a year after Strathclyde Police set up a violent crime reduction unit.

Det Ch Supt John Carnochan, head of the unit, urged caution.

He said: "Whether it's five or 50 murders, levels of violence are still unacceptable.

"We have had this problem for several decades - over the last 30 years levels of violence and violent crime in this part of the world have remained relatively constant.

"In the short term we must continue to contain and manage the problem.

"However, we also need to develop long term, sustainable solutions to make a lasting difference."

Recorded Crime and % fall Violence 6,291 = 13.5% Indecency 1,931 = 27% Dishonesty 58,774 = 12.6% Fireraising etc 43,746 = 0.6% Drugs and weapons 32,873 = 5.9% rise Total crime 143,615 = 5.7%

Robbery fell by 12.1% and indecent assault dropped marginally by 14 cases, or 2.8%.

Carrying knives decreased by 10.1%

Elsewhere, the long-term trend in reducing thefts such as housebreaking and car crime continued.

As did the trend of reducing the number of children killed or seriously injured in road accidents.

Possession of drug offences increased by 7.7% while supply of drugs fell.

The quantity of class A drug seized fell by 91.4% while the weight of drugs seized fell by 40%.

Racial harassment was down by more than a fifth on last year.

The report will be presented to councillors on Strathclyde joint police board on Thursday.

It will show the force has met its targets for reducing violent crime.