Police: Violent Crime In Rockford Drops 11 Percent In 2018

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — Statistics released by the Rockford Police Department show violent crime in the northern Illinois city dropped 11 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Violent crime is offenses that include murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The statistics released Wednesday show the drop in violent crime came despite more homicides last year.

The Rockford Register Star reports that there were 21 killings in the city last year, about a quarter of which were attributed to acts of domestic violence. Domestic violence accounted for more than 35 percent of all violent crime last year.

Domestic violence arrests have spiked in the city as law enforcement heightened focus on the crime and the implementation of new policing strategies. There were 74 percent more domestic-violence related arrests last year than two years prior.