Crime Rates Go Down In St. Joseph

Crime in St. Joseph is on the decline. The St. Joseph Police Department just released its crime analysis report for 2005 and numbers show overall that crime decreased. On the flip side....the number of violent crimes went up--specifically, aggravated assault. Reported assault cases doubled since last year...going from 67 in 2004 to 137 cases in 2005. Commander Jim Connors says....the noticeable increase in assaults might be due to inaccurate reporting by records personnel in previous years. He says before records personnel classified aggravated assaults under the wrong standards. He says non-violent crimes like stealing, fraud, and burglary went down more than violent crimes went up. However, car thefts did rise. Connors says overall they are pleased with the report..... but the increased areas still cause concerns. "It`s the kind of thing that has more to do with reporting than anything else, but it is an area of crime that we are going to have to be looking at very carefully and try to address the reasons for that,"Connors said. Connors says one reason for a noticeable decrease in non-violent crimes is a change in ownership of the King gas stations. He says the gas chain accounted for a large number of gas drive-offs.