Chief James Fitzpatrick is pleased to report that the Lawrence Police Department saw a 22 percent decrease in FBI Part 1 Crimes in the first half of 2015.
“Part 1” crimes are considered the most serious. They include murder/manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, arson and motor vehicle theft.
The Department’s statics were collected from Jan. 1 through June 30. During this time period, there was a 40 percent drop in robberies, a 31 percent decrease in aggravated assaults, a 27 percent drop in rapes, a 24 percent drop in residential burglaries and a 24 percent drop in motor vehicle theft.
“We have made, and continue to make, a strong effort to decrease crime in our city,” Chief Fitzpatrick said. “I am proud of the residents and the members of our police department for going above and beyond to make our community a safer place. We hope to continue this trend into the second half of the year.”
Unfortunately, there have been two homicides this year, where there was zero during this period last year.
Larcenies over $250 are also slightly up year-over-year, from 155 to 167. Chief Fitzpatrick shared these numbers with officers and detectives, and the department pledges to do more to work with stores and businesses to build partnerships to help reduce the number of larcenies in the city.
