Serious crime hits another record low in unincorporated Jefferson ...

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand announced that serious crime in the parish in 2012 hit the lowest levels since the Sheriff's Office began reporting such statistics in 1974. The crime rate last year broke the previous record low established in 2010.

"What's significant about 2012 is it's the lowest crime rate year in Jefferson Parish," Normand said Friday. The 14,130 total crimes reported last year represent a 5 percent decrease in crime compared with 2011. "We had reductions in every category of crime," Normand said.

Compared with the same number of total crimes reported back in 1974, the 2012 figures represent a 14 percent reduction.

The Sheriff's Office tracks and annually reports to the FBI seven major crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft and auto theft. The statistics reported Friday do not include the municipalities of Kenner, Harahan, Westwego, Gretna, Grand Isle and Jean Lafitte.

The Sheriff's Office saw the biggest reduction in the murder rate, down 33 percent in 2012. Detectives investigated 33 homicides in 2012 compared with 49 in the previous year.

At mid-year, robberies, thefts and rapes were up, driving a slight increase in overall crime. By the end of 2012, robberies were down 11 percent, thefts down 1 percent and rapes down 5 percent.

Burglaries, the second most common crime committed, were also down 13 percent in 2012. But Normand said investigators continue to see burglaries committed on unlocked vehicles and residences.

"There's a sense of being safe," Normand said. "There's a sense of I'm not going to be a victim, and you let your guard down. You don't lock your house and your car, and there are people there to take advantage of it."

Normand said it's difficult to point to one strategy or policy that has helped the department maintain the lower crime rates. He lauded citizen involvement, citing the recent Metairie Bank branch robbery where a witness followed the suspect's vehicle and provided investigators with a license plate number that eventually led to the alleged robbers' arrest.

But Normand also gave the men and women of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office their due. " This is a testament to their hard work and the fact they come to work every day and give a damn."

?	December 2012	November 2012	December 2011
Murder	1	4	3
Rape	3	1	6
Robbery	39	25	47
Assault	101	97	117
Burglary	203	171	269
Theft	765	702	814
Auto theft	70	56	64
Total	1,182	1,056	1,320

?	2011 totals	2012 totals	Percent change
Murder	49	33	-33%
Rape	67	64	-5%
Robbery	464	412	-11%
Assault	1,229	1,142	-7%
Burglary	2,950	2,568	-13%
Theft	9,193	9,128	-1%
Auto theft	885	783	-12%
Total	14,837	14,130	-5%
Source: Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office?????|????? STAFF CHART

Source: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/01/serious_crime_hits_another_rec.html

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