City's violent crime down 30 percent

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Columbia's interim police chief said Sunday the city's violent crime stats continue to fall.

Chief Ruben Santiago said in a tweet the third quarter stats show an almost 30 percent decrease in violent crime in Columbia compared to last year. 

According to raidsonline.com, the greatest number of offenses this year is motor vehicle thefts, followed by residential burglaries and thefts.

Aggravated assaults, sexual assaults and homicide make up the smaller portion of the crime stats at just 2.5 percent this year.

Santiago said he is proud of his officers, but they need to remain vigilant.

"Criminals are creatures of habit and they think that they can get away with something and continue to do the same thing," said Santiago. "Well unfortunately that still causes those numbers to increase, but we've been able to squelch them by recognizing it as quickly as possible and doing something about it.

Santiago says the department knows their toughest time of the year for combating violent crimes is just ahead of them: the holidays. Santiago says the department will plan several special target enforcements as the holidays draw near. He says he wants officers to have more face to face contact with the public. He also encourages anyone who sees crime happening to call the city's 911 center and alert officers.

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