Vehicle-related thefts increase

Despite a drop in violent crime, the city experienced a jump in vehicle-related thefts last year, which resulted in an overall 11% increase in serious crimes for 2007, city officials said.

Auto thefts jumped nearly 39% to 222 incidents, while thefts of valuables from vehicles helped push larcenies up 17% to 1,729 incidents, according to police crime statistics.

Violent crime was down 9% overall last year, officials said. There were two murders, one less than in 2006; and 20 rapes, one less than the previous year. Aggravated assaults fell from 117 to 96, an 18% drop.

“This gives us a snapshot of where we need to allocate resources to be even safer,” said City Manager Mike Sedell. “We will do a number of things in the community to educate people to make sure their houses and vehicles are locked. Just because we’re in one of the nation’s safest cities doesn’t mean we’re immune from thieves.”