Overall crime in St. Louis City is declining; violent crime is on the rise

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    ST. LOUIS, MO (KMOV) — New crime statistics from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department show overall crime in the city is down about one percent year-to-date. Violent crime, however, is rising. Homicides are up 36 percent this year compared to 2019.

Aggravated assaults are up more than nine percent and auto theft is up more than 7 percent.

Carrie Cella said her son’s SUV was stolen from their Affton home Tuesday night around 9:30 p.m. Police recovered the vehicle Friday morning in south St. Louis City.

“It’s got some body damage and it won’t start and it’s extremely frustrating when we work hard to have nice things and someone just comes along and takes it,” said Cella.

Crime statistics in St. Louis fall in line with what several major cities are experiencing during the pandemic.

A recent study by the University of Missouri-St. Louis found homicides are up an average of 37 percent in 27 major cities, including St. Louis.

Researchers said “both the rise in violence and social unrest are likely to persist unless effective violence-reduction strategies are coupled with needed reforms to policing.”

Right now, federal agents are in St. Louis, and several other big metros, as part of Operation Legend. Their mission is to help weed out violent offenders. In St. Louis, roughly seven dozen people have already been arrested and charged.

“I feel like there’s been a loss of you know people don’t have any sense of humanity anymore. I don’t understand that,” said Cella.

While violent crime is on the rise, robberies, rape, and larceny is down this year compared to 2019.

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