By Ananda Shorey, The Associated Press
PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) - The violent crime rate in the nation’s sixth largest city has been steadily declining for the past decade, including this year, according to police statistics.
About 8,740 violent crimes - including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault - were reported between January and November. That is 3 percent below last year’s total of 9,004.
The violent crime rate in Phoenix dropped 40 percent between 1993 and 2003.
Police programs targeting violent offenders, harsher sentences and private programs designed to combat domestic violence and drug use have led to the reduction, said Sgt. Randy Force.
“I truly believe that crime is a communitywide problem, and if you are going to beat it down, it is going to take a communitywide solution,” Force said Monday. “We simply cannot do it ourselves.”
About 1.5 million people live within the city limits.
In the United States, violent crime was down 2 percent in the first six months of the year compared with the same period of 2003, according to preliminary figures provided to the FBI by more than 10,700 state and local police agencies.
Murders in the United States dropped by nearly 6 percent in the first half of the year after rising for four straight years, according to FBI statistics.
As of November, murders in Phoenix are down nearly 18 percent, according to police figures.
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon attributes the decline to an emphasis on community-based policing and a variety of anti-crime programs.
“We are attacking crime on all fronts, not only the apprehension side but on the prevention side,” Gordon said.
He also said authorities took more violent criminals off the streets by targeting repeat offenders, and he pointed to the collaborative effort between the police, FBI and immigration authorities.
“Everyone is basically working together to figure out the most efficient way to get the bad guys,” Gordon said.
The state’s other largest cities did not fare as well.
In Tucson - Arizona’s second largest city - homicides increased slightly this year. By Monday, there had been 54 murders in Tucson. Last year, 51 people were killed.
There also were more rapes, 326 by Monday, compared to 274 in 2003, according to Tucson police Officer Michelle Pickrom.
Tucson’s murder rate has remained fairly consistent since 2000, Pickrom said.
Murders in Mesa increased slightly. There were 18 murders in Mesa in 2003. As of Dec. 10, 22 people were killed this year.
It’s not clear why there was an increase in Mesa, but it could be because the city is growing so fast, said police spokesman Charles Trapani.
“The city is getting bigger. Sometimes, when there is more population, there are more homicides,” Trapani said.