49 Crime Tracker: City sees 25 percent January crime decrease
Originally published 03:38 p.m., February 12, 2008
Updated 07:38 p.m., February 12, 2008
Murders down 100 percent; None this January, one last January.
Rapes down 25 percent.
Aggravated assaults down 32 percent.
Thefts are down a whopping 30 percent.
Auto thefts down 44 percent.
Crime trend breakdown
See exactly where the city's police force and citizenry have succeeded in fighting crime and what types of crime have jumped up a bit. We compare the frequency of reports of violent crime and some nonviolent crime in this Crime Tracker trend breakdown.
And police are crediting you for the decline in crime.
"The citizens are really the ones who have taken this initiative, who are doing the things necessary to reduce their possibility of becoming a victim of crime, and we're seeing dividends paid off as a result of that," Topeka Police Capt. Ron Brown said.
Police have been pleading with the public to do their part.
They installed thousands of special screws on people's cars to prevent license plate thefts in Operation Home Plate.
They asked people to remove valuables from their cars to prevent car break-ins.
Police asked car dealers to quit leaving keys in the cars on their lots to prevent auto thefts.
They asked people to look out for stolen cars by featuring one a week in Operation Hot Wheels.
And police say the public is responding and it's making our city safer and more attractive.
"A safe city is a successful city, that if we continue to see reductions in crime, that that helps to encourage business, it helps to encourage people to move here and those types of things, because they perceive Topeka as a very safe city," Brown said.
But,- it's not all good news.
Our 49 News Crime Tracker found robberies were up 36 percent this January over last January, and burglaries up 2 percent.
Brown reminds citizens not to let their guard down and to make sure they’re not making themselves an easy crime target for criminals.
Crime tip hotlines
Can you help solve a crime?
If you have any information about a crime, please call police at the following numbers:
Topeka Police (non-emergency): (785) 368-9400
Topeka Crime Stoppers (for anonymous tips): (785) 234-0007
Crimes in Shawnee County (non-emergency): (785) 368-2200
Kansas Bureau of Investigation: 1-800-KS-CRIME (800-572-7463)
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