Police Chief Sam Dotson announced today that overall crime in the City of St. Louis dropped by 5.4 percent in 2013, according to last year’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) statistics.
However, homicides increased from 113 murders in 2012 to 120 last year, and forcible rapes jumped from 199 in 2012 to 333 last year.
Police officials explained that in January 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) implemented a revised definition of rape.
“The expanded definition allows law enforcement agencies to report more accurate rape offense data throughout the UCR program to ensure all applicable rape offenses and all victims of any gender or age are accounted for,” according to today’s press release.
Violent crime decreased 10.3 percent while property crimes dropped 4.2 percent.
Dotson said the City of St. Louis has achieved record low numbers for seven straight years.
“Overall crime is down almost 50 percent since 2006,” Dotson said. “Our city is getting safer; our strategies are having an impact. Hot-spot policing has been implemented throughout the city, and it is no longer a theory or experimental technique, but the way we do business every day.”
2013 Crime at a Glance
2013 Reported Crimes against Persons
• Homicides increased 6.2 percent from 113 to 120
• Forcible Rapes increased 67.3 percent from 199 to 333
• Robberies decreased 18 percent from 1,778 to 1,458
• Aggravated Assaults decreased 11.3 percent from 3,571 to 3,167
2013 Reported Property Crimes
• Burglaries decreased 13.7 percent from 4,986 to 4,305
• Larcenies decreased 0.5 percent from 13,520 to 13,452
• Vehicle Thefts decreased by 4.6 percent from 3,489 to 3,330
• Arsons decreased 10.6 percent from 198 to 177