Overall crime is down 5 percent, and in fairness, a dozen homicides is average for Lafayette; 2009 was an aberration.
The Lafayette Police Department Wednesday released uniform crime report statistics for 2010, and other than a 50-percent rise in homicides over the previous year - from 8 in 2008 to 12 in 2009 - and a robust decrease in auto thefts, the numbers show little in the way of crime trends. And in fairness, a dozen homicides is average for Lafayette; 2009 was more an aberration.
One bright spot in the statistics was a 24-percent drop in arrests of juveniles - from 1,213 in 2009 to 927 in 2010. Overall arrests dropped 3 percent last year compared to 2009.
Rapes rose 6 percent in the 2009-2010 comparison (33 to 35), robberies dropped 16 percent (285 to 240), assaults were down 2 percent (2,465 to 2,410), burglary climbed 2 percent (1,407 to 1,432), thefts fell 6 percent (5,613 to 5,267) and auto thefts decreased significantly - 33 percent - from 433 in 2009 to 290 in 2010. Overall, crime was down 5 percent among those categories. At the same time, officers logged 4 percent more calls for service last year than in 2009, responding to 212,583 calls.