FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – Fewer people are victims of gun crime in Fresno.
Except for aggravated assaults which rose 6%, the Fresno Police Department is seeing reductions in violent crime, year-to-date; a 36% drop in homicide, an 18% drop in rape, and a 3% drop in robbery.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said 18 fewer people were killed in Fresno this year compared to last, and 76 fewer people were injured by gunfire; YTD 121 versus 197 in 2017 – a 38.6 % reduction.
The city saw 131 fewer shootings compared to last year.
Chief Dyer said year-to-date there were 311 shootings city-wide versus 442 last year.
There is a potential for crimes to increase over the holidays, said Chief Dyer, especially property crimes.
Surprisingly, Chief Dyer said in the last 28 days, nobody stole any cars that were left to warm up outside – but that could change.
Police say its up to drivers to reduce their risk of becoming a statistic over the holiday season whether it’s by not leaving items inside their cars to be stolen or not leaving cars in driveways to warm up.
Click to listen to the report by KMJ’S Liz Kern:
