There were steep decreases in the number of homicides, rapes and aggravated assaults reported in the first three months of 2007, according to Montgomery County police officials.
The sharpest decline came in homicides — two were reported during the first quarter of 2007, compared to four during the same period in 2006.
Rapes also nose-dived 42.4 percent — only 19 rapes were reported in the first three months of ’07, compared to 33 in the same time period last year.
Aggravated assault dropped 35.7 percent, from 235 during the first quarter of 2006 to 151 during the first three months of 2007.
Overall, there was a 3.4 percent decrease in total reported crime in Montgomery County during the first three months of 2007, compared to first quarter 2006.
There was a slight increase in the number of reported burglaries in 2007, with reports of burglaries inching up 2.5 percent from 786 in the first quarter of 2006 to 806 during the first quarter of 2007.
‘‘I don’t think there’s any one thing that has contributed to all the success that we’re seeing,” said police spokeswoman Officer Melanie Hadley. “Each district station is implementing individual strategies that are hopefully showing results.”
“This is a good news story for us and it’s hopefully a trend that we’ll see moving forward.”
