November crime decreased by 28 percent this year compared to rates from November of last year, while year-to-date crime has also decreased by 13 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the Division of Public Safety.
Rates for crimes against property showed the biggest decline. While there were 65 reported incidents in November 2008, there were only 33 incidents reported this past month.
Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said theft usually increases around the holidays.
She credited the decline to an increased patrol presence in the area as the holidays approach.
Rush also attributed the large decrease in crime to the Thanksgiving Special Checks program that DPS conducted over Thanksgiving break.
But while crimes against property may be down for the month, violent crimes increased significantly compared to November of last year.
There were only seven incidents of violent crime reported last November, while there were 19 incidents reported this past month.
Although there were 12 robberies reported this November, Chief of Police Mark Dorsey said several of these incidents occurred within minutes of each other.
In these incidents, three female juveniles attacked three female students on Locust Walk at the beginning of the month, and were arrested shortly after.
There were also five aggravated assaults reported in November. DPS officials said three of these assaults were against police officers.
A summary of the crime statistics for year to date:
No homicides have been reported this year while two were reported last year.
Twenty-five robberies were reported both this year and last year.
Aggravated assaults increased from 9 last year to 18 this year.
Simple assaults rose from 24 last year to 31 this year.
Forcible sex offenses increased from 6 last year to 13 this year.
Burglaries decreased from 72 last year to 49 this year.
One arson was reported this year while none were reported last year.
There were six auto thefts reported this year while seven were reported last year.
There were 102 thefts from autos reported this year while 110 were reported last year.
Bike theft decreased from 114 last year to 86 this year.
Theft from buildings dropped from 227 last year to 190 this year.
There were 102 retail thefts last year, compared to 93 this year.
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