Milwaukee Police Chief Edward A. Flynn wrote a letter to the community sharing crime numbers from the first six months of 2011. There has been a continued drop in crime for the first half of this year as it has been every year since since 2007.
Here's more, directly from the letter:
"There were 12 percent fewer crimes and 2,255 fewer victims of crime during the first six months of 2011 than the first six months of 2010. Since 2007, violent crime is down 33.5 percent; property crime is down 25 percent – that is a 26.5 percent decrease in all crime in five years.
"Comparing the first six months of 2011 to the same time period in 2010, violent crime dropped nearly 9 percent. There was, however, one more homicide and one more non-fatal shooting. Robberies decreased by 2 percent and aggravated assaults decreased by 16 percent ...
"Property crime is down 13 percent including a 6 percent decrease in burglary and a 20 percent decrease in theft."
There were 10 more reported rapes in the first half of 2011 compared to 2010 and a 16 percent increase in auto crime.
"I can attribute a substantial portion of this increase to the combination of increasing scrap metal prices, the difficult economic times we face and legal loopholes that facilitate motor vehicle theft," says Flynn.
