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FBI Report Shows Decline in Crime Rates for Jefferson City

FBI

The FBI’s released its annual Uniform Crime Report this week revealing a decline in violent crime in Jefferson City from 2013 to 2014.

The data show a decrease in almost every violent crime category, excluding murder.

Councilman Rick Mihalevich is the chairman of the city’s Public Safety Committee.

He said the city’s initiatives concerning public safety could be responsible for the decline.

He also said the police department is finally fully staffed.

“We’ve regained the traffic and patrol divisions has been a big part of, I think, the city’s effort,” Mihalevich said.

However Captain Doug Shoemaker from the Jefferson City Police Department said agencies typically don’t want to take all of the credit for changes in crime rates.

“We do our best in trying to adapt every year to trends, and policing and different ways of doing things to work better with the community,” Shoemaker said. “So we hope that’s certainly a part of it, but we have to constantly watch what we’re doing and just evolve as we go along.”

Shoemaker said the fluctuation in crime rates does not always reflect what the police agency is doing.

He said several different factors affect the fluctuating crime rate including public cooperation and reporting.