Crime up again for October, up 4.5% for year

Total crime for October climbed slightly compared to the same month last year, though rates for violent crime decreased.

Crime for the entire year is also up, with an increase of 4.5 percent, from 660 last year to 690 in 2007.

After a slight dip in September, total crime for October increased by 9.3 percent overall, up to 106 from 97 last October.

The shooting outside the Koko Bongo nightclub Halloween weekend was the exception to an overall drop in violent crime; aggravated assaults, simple assaults and robberies all decreased, most notably with only three robberies for the month, compared to seven last year.

Overall thefts were up 24.7 percent for the month, from 77 last October to 96 this year. Bike theft was also up, from 12 last October to 17 this year, which Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush attributed to a large number of students who left their bikes either improperly secured or without a cable lock.

Rush also continued to stress the problem of theft of unattended belongings, which accounts for about half of all thefts.

"Thefts here could be avoided if people didn't leave things out," she said.

Robberies are still up 9 percent for the year despite the month's decrease.

A summary of crime rates for October:

n Simple assaults dropped from two to one for the month and are up for the year, from 18 to 30.

n Aggravated assaults dropped from three to zero for the month and are down for the year, from 25 to 14.

n General thefts - thefts of belongings besides bikes and automobiles - have risen 16 percent for the year.

n Burglaries decreased from eight to six and are down 28 percent for the year from 54 to 39.

n Bike thefts increased from 12 to 17 but are down 23 percent for the year by 108 to 83.

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