Durham had 24 homicides in 2008, one less than the year before, and a 19 percent decline in the number of rapes reported, from 88 to 71.
However, a January spike in robberies pushed the city's overall total of violent crimes to 1,810, a 4 percent rise from 2007.
Figures are from the Durham Police Department's 2008 Crime Report, which Chief Jose L. Lopez (right) presents at tonight's City Council meeting.
Burglary and vehicle-theft totals were also down, but a 5 percent increase in larcenies left Durham's overall property-crime rate up 1 percent for the year.
According to Lopez's report, thefts of industrial metals, particularly copper, accounted for much of the increase, but with scrap-metal dealers cooperation, those thefts began decreasing in the year's last months.
The full report and executive summary are online at www.durhamnc.gov/agendas/2009/cm20090302/AttachmentsList.cfm#5938.
