Rest easier: Major crime down in Akron by 12 percent from 2011

AKRON, Ohio - If you live in or visit the city of Akron, you can rest easier. Crime is reportedly down.

According to the eight major offenses tracked by the Akron Police Department and reported in the annual Uniform Crime Report to the FBI, the overall crime rate in Akron dropped 12 percent from 2011.

Put into numbers, Akron Police Chief James Nice reported that overall tracked incidents went from 13,448 in 2011 to 11,842 incidents in 2012.

The eight categories of crime compared were murder, robbery, sexual assault, aggravated burglary, burglary, total theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

Rates dropped in all categories:

- Murder rates fell 11 percent
- Robbery dropped 23 percent
- Sexual assaults were down 8 percent
- Burglaries fell 22 percent
- Aggravated assault dropped 4 percent
- Total theft decreased 5 percent
- Motor vehicle theft declined 12 percent
- Arson numbers fell 1 percent

"Although our police staffing remains reduced at this time because of budget constraints, as with all our departments, our police force is made up of dedicated officers who are working hard to serve our City," said Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic in a news release.

Akron will be giving another police test soon and the chief hopes to be able to add more men and women to the force.

"Right now our force is mostly reactionary, meaning we solve crimes after they occur," explained Nice. "Having more people on our force will allow us to be more proactive so that we can aim to prevent some of these crimes from happening in the first place."