DURHAM -- A city audit has found at least $60,000 in overtime paid to a Durham police officer "was not justifiable or reasonable" and that lax oversight by department officials contributed to the abuse.

Deputy Chief B.J. Council, who signed off on the overtime, will retire as of Dec. 31, Police Chief Jose Lopez said this afternoon. Beginning Monday, Council will be on personal leave until the end of the year. She is a 31-year veteran of the Durham police, Lopez said.

Violent crime in Durham was down 30 percent in the first three months of 2009, compared with the same period a year earlier, and overall crime showed a decline of 8 percent.

Murder led the drop, going from eight to three in the first quarter, or 62.5 percent. While rape was up, from 15 to 23, robberies were down 245 to 153 (38 percent) and aggravated assault down 214 to 156 (27 percent).

Those numbers were included in Police Chief Jose Lopez's first-quarter crime report for the City Council.

The violent-crime total, 335, was the lowest for a first quarter in at least four years. From 2006 through 2009, Durham's first-quarter average was 390 homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults.

Property crime was down 3 percent, with a 14 percent increase in burglaries but a 6 percent drop in larcency and a 29 percent drop in auto theft.

Crime overall was down in Durham in the first two months of 2009, compared with the same period a year before.

Violent crime — murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — was down 36 percent, Police Chief Jose Lopez reported to the City Council work session Thursday. Property crime was down 1 percent despite a 9 percent increase in burglaries: from 443 in 2008 to 483 this year.

The drop in violent crime was led by a decrease in murder — from three to one — and robbery — from 181 to 99. A spate of robberies in early 2008 had kept the city’s crime rate up, compared with 2007, even as violent crime in other forms went down.

“We have worked hard to identify suspects in multiple robberies,” Lopez said. “We believe this has helped reduce our violent crime rate."

Lopez also pointed out that officers interrupted two armed home invasions in January, and two arrests led to a “significant” drop in car break-ins in the Brightleaf Square area.

'”That's certainly the type of trend we're looking for,” said Mayor Bill Bell. “Whatever you're doing, keep it up."

Police Chief Jose Lopez told the city council Thursday that Durham’s rates of homicide and rape were down compared with the first nine months of 2007, but increased incidents of robbery and assault pushed the city’s overall rate of violent crime to an 8 percent rise in 2008.