Violent crime numbers are down in Rockford, but the number of property crimes is up. Rockford city officials released mid-year crime statistics on Tuesday. They show a decrease in robberies, aggravated assaults, shots fired and overall violent crime from January to June of this year.
Rockford Police Chief Dan O’Shea says there is still work to be done to fix the city’s violence problem.
“We’re proud of the fact that it’s going the right way, but we also realize we have way too much violent crime," O'Shea said. "That will continue to drop as long as the community continues to work with us and engage with us, and pick off the most violent offenders and be willing to give us the informationso we can lock them up.”
Violent crime is down 15 percent so far this year.
Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara pointed to police budget increases and proactive measures in the community to underline the city’s commitment to public safety. He says domestic violence continues to be a struggle:
“If we don’t have safe homes we don’t have safe streets," McNamara said. "From street crime, if we don’t have safe streets [than] we’re not going to get new residents to move to the city. If we don’t have new residents moving to the city, we’re not going to have a lot of new businesses move to the city. That’s why I think public safety has been a No. 1 priority for my administration and the council.”
But the news wasn’t all positive. There was a six percent increase in property crimes and a 10 percent jump in auto thefts.