MANCHESTER, NH – For the past five years, Manchester’s overall crime rate has been trending downward, according to a report on preliminary crime statistics released Wednesday by Manchester police.
The latest statistics for 2018 show a 9 percent drop in violent crime and a 1 percent drop in property crime. The biggest decline was in the number of burglaries. There were 340 last year, nearly 150 fewer than in 2017 when there were 499.
The crime statistics showed only two areas that increased: Homicides, 5 in 2018 compared to 2 the previous year, and thefts (larceny), 2,440 last year compared to 2,293 in 2017, an increase of 6 percent.
There were 69 forcible rapes last year, compared to 99 in 2017 for a 30 percent drop. Robberies were also down 18 percent, with 176 in 2017 and 145 for 2018.
Aggravated assaults were down 1 percent, 416 last year compared to 422 in 2017.
Manchester police use predictive hot-spot policing in an effort to reduce crime. It involves using analytics to forecast where crime will likely occur and athen dispatching patrols to those areas at the right time to apprehend and arrest criminals. The result, police say, is a reduction in crime and a safer city.
