Overall crime in Annapolis dropped by 7 percent in the first nine months of this year over last year, despite an increase by more than half in the number of aggravated assaults, city police said yesterday.
The increase in aggravated assaults -- from 202 in January through September last year to 316 in the same period this year -- may be linked to police efforts to make people more willing to report domestic abuse, which makes up a large portion of the assaults, police said.
"There has been a very, very strong effort toward reporting domestic violence," said Capt. Zora Lykken, Annapolis police spokeswoman. "The majority of aggravated assaults are with known assailants. Most of them occur in private, behind closed doors."
Most other types of crime decreased in the first part of 1997. Homicides were down from three to one; rapes were down from nine to seven; robberies were down from 142 to 102; burglaries were down from 440 to 328; and larceny was down from 1,247 to 1,112.
Motor vehicle theft increased from 127 to 149.
Pub Date: 11/12/97
