Stats Show Crime Is Down In Rockford In 2019

What's the best way to show that Rockford, much maligned for a very high crime rate, is turning things around? Show off some newly released year-to-year crime statistics.

According to statistics from the Rockford Police Department, violent and property crimes, robberies, aggravated assaults, shots fired and auto thefts are all down for the first three months of 2019 compared to the same stretch of time in 2018.

Violent crimes: Down 22%.
Jan.-March 2018: 445
Jan.-March 2019: 348

Robberies: Down 35%.
2018: 77
2019: 50

Property crimes: Down 25%.
2018: 1201
2019: 907

Aggravated assaults: Down 16%.
2018: 307
2019: 257

Shots fired: Down 20%.
2018: 105
2019: 84

Auto thefts: Down 28%.
2018: 107
2019: 77

There have been improvements for the Rockford Fire Department, too: