The number of homicides, aggravated assaults and sexual assaults in Nebraska increased, but the number of robberies and burglaries fell in 2010, the Nebraska Crime Commission said in a report released Friday.
Violent crime fell 1 percent and property crime dropped 2 percent in 2010 compared with 2009, according to the report, Crime in Nebraska 2010.
Overall, the state saw a 2 percent decrease in crimes, with 52,152 reported during 2010 compared to 53,098 reported in 2009, the report said.
Omaha’s overall crime numbers were down 5 percent, with 19,718 reported in 2010 compared to 20,784 reported in ’09. Decreases in the number of robberies and thefts led the drop, with 19 percent and 7 percent decreases, respectively.
However, the number of aggravated assaults [--] generally assaults with a weapon jumped in Omaha from 1,249 to 1,312; the number of sexual assaults rose from 192 to 196; and the number of homicides increased from 30 in 2009 to 34 in 2010.
In Nebraska, aggravated-assault numbers rose from 3,058 to 3,139; reported sexual assaults increased from 580 to 628; and homicides increased from 41 to 53.
Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes has said aggravated assault numbers are better indicators of what’s happening on the streets than homicide numbers.
The difference between a homicide and a shooting in which someone is injured, he has said, can be a bullet striking someone an inch to the right or left.
Through June of this year, Omaha has had about the same number of homicides as it had in the first six months of 2010: 16, compared with 17 last year. But aggravated assaults were down considerably: 550 such assaults through June, compared with 613 for the same period in 2010.
Hayes, who was traveling Friday morning, said through a spokeswoman that police still need more cooperation from citizens when crimes occur, but they are seeing improvements. Officers have been able to make arrests more quickly because of the information provided by the public, he said.
Hayes also noted that the homicide clearance rate through this June is 68 percent, compared with 29 percent for the same period last year.
Mike Behm, the crime commissioner’s executive director, said the increase in violent crimes in the state contrasts with the trend across the country, which has been a decrease in those crimes.
Generally, though, Behm said, Nebraska is “pretty much following national trends. Overall, Nebraska’s still in a climate where our crime is decreasing. We’re not climbing.”
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