Serious crime in Minneapolis crept up for the third consecutive year in 2012, but other year-end data indicate some categories of crimes are dropping, according to statistics released Friday by the Minneapolis Police Department.
Mayor R.T. Rybak and Police Chief Janeé Harteau said that overall violent crime was at the second-lowest level since 1983 and only slightly higher than the recent low of 2011.
"It takes a whole city to keep a whole city safe," Rybak said. "Much of our progress in 2012 in keeping crime at historically low levels is due to effective partnerships between police and community."
Part 1 crime, known as serious crime, which includes violent and property offenses, totaled 23,345 in 2012, the third year in a row that it has edged upward. Last year it was at 23,052.
But looking back across the decades, the serious crime total is far less than the 1980s and the 1990s. It topped out in 1986 at 45,513 Part 1 crimes.
The number of overall violent crimes committed in 2012 was lower than any year since 1983, with the exception of 2011, city officials noted.
