Ellington

Major crimes in Jackson decreased slightly last week, according to statistics (PDF) released yesterday at the Jackson Police Department's weekly COMSTAT meeting. For the year to date, violent crime is down roughly 10 percent compared to last year, while property crime is up less than 1 percent. Last week, officers reported 23 violent crimes, compared to 29 the previous week, and 209 property crimes, down from 211 the week before.

In a press release issued yesterday, the city's Communications Department highlighted the overall decrease in violent crime to date, noting that the city has seen reductions across all categories of violent crime. The most significant decrease has been in homicide. Last year, the city had 43 homicides at this point. This year, there have been 31, three of which police have classified as justifiable.

The current Jackson crime numbers reflect a much more accurate picture of how crime is actually dropping in the city, in direct opposition to the 2008 numbers recently released by the FBI. In 2008, under the Frank Melton administration, crime rose by more than 9 percent over 2007.