THE SIDELINES : Crime Rate Won’t Hurt Atlanta

ATLANTA — A four-member commission of International Olympic Committee members said Atlanta’s crime rate should not seriously damage the city’s chances of hosting the 1996 Olympic Games.

“It is not an alarming thing for the 1996 Olympics,” said Gunnar Ericsson of Sweden, the commission’s chairman. “I have not seen any city without crime rates.”

The panel visited Atlanta Monday on the last stop of its tour of bidding cities. The four members reviewed Atlanta’s crime statistics and security plans and said they felt satisfied that visiting Olympic athletes and spectators would feel safe.

FBI statistics for 1989 showed Atlanta with the highest number of serious crimes reported per 1,000 residents in cities with a population of at least 300,000.