Most crime is down in St. Paul, according to statistics released Thursday that show the largest dip in rapes and home burglaries.
The statistics comparing the first eight months of 2014 with the same time period last year show an overall decline in the crime index of 8 percent.
The steepest decline was in home burglaries, down from 1,740 to 1,315.
A breakdown of the numbers:
— Homicides: 10 this year, down from 12 in 2013, a 16.7 percent drop.
— Rapes are down 15.7 percent, from 140 to 118.
— Aggravated assaults are down 9.6 percent, from 731 to 661.
— Robberies are down 3.8 percent, from 476 to 458.
— Residential burglaries are down 24.4 percent, from 1,740 to 1,315.
There was a surge in auto thefts, up 18 percent, from 1,164 to 1,373; and commercial burglaries, up 20 percent, from 231 to 279.
Police Chief Thomas Smith credits the drop in residential burglaries — especially in light of a spike in burglaries the previous year — to new partnerships between police and residents.
“This summer and spring, we were out knocking on doors, something we’ve never done before, leaving cards about Safe Summer Nights (a 13-week program of Thursday night cookouts in high-crime neighborhoods) and numbers to call if they had questions about crime, and community meeting times.”
Neighbors getting to know one another combined with more residents working with police to prevent crime is the recipe for success, Smith said.
“The outreach worked,” Smith said. “I learned as a chief, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Bridging the gap between officers and communities of color by going door to door works.”
For instance, the chief said, officers will knock on someone’s door and tell them a garage door was accidentally left open.
“All those things made a huge difference in residential burglaries,” he said.
Smith said that he could not say why commercial burglaries were up but that he hoped the department’s plan to hire two analysts might help.
The analysts, whom the department hopes to have on board by next year, will study crime trends, “M.O.’s of suspects” and how crimes are linked to help the department create strategies to reduce crime, he said.
Asked why he thought auto thefts were up, Smith said those types of crimes tended to be cyclical.
He noted that while some stolen vehicles are recovered, others, such as Honda Accords and Civics, often are targeted by chop shops that strip vehicles for parts used in cars for racing that are then taken out of state.
The department has bait cars around the city in an attempt to capture car thieves and made two arrests last weekend using a bait car.
Smith will be speaking about the crime numbers at an event this weekend.
“Safe and Sound,” St. Paul Police Community Appreciation Day, will include demonstrations by the department’s SWAT team, bomb squad, K9 cops and more from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Midway Stadium.
