Crime Rates Down in 2010

The City of Florissant saw overall crime rates drop throughout 2010, which is a continued trend from 2009.

In a Jan. 7 press release, Mayor Robert Lowery’s office reported a “considerable major reduction of crime in almost every area.” He praised not only the Florissant Police Department for their contributions, but also Florissant’s Neighborhood Watch Program members. Mayor Lowery stated that it was their efforts that were helping to make Florissant a safer environment.

“Although we are not without crime, we are steadily reducing it by being aggressive but making certain we abide by the Constitution,” Mayor Lowery said in the release. “We will not tolerate criminal activities, and we will attack it in every way possible, once again in accord with the law.”

Florissant police have pushed a variety of steps in order for local communities to help in bringing the crime rate down year after year.

“We’ve really pushed the neighborhood watch initiative,” said Sgt. Kevin Boschert, public information officer for the Florissant Police Department. “If everyone just keeps an eye out and knows how to identify suspicious activity, that goes a long way in keeping communities safe.”

Boschert goes on to add that in addition to local support, the department likes to make their presence known in areas that appear to have an increase in criminal activity. A four officer anti-crime unit is employed as well. These are plain-clothes officers who blend in with the population to better identify suspected perpetrators.

“Florissant also followed a nation-wide trend with crime decreasing,” Boschert said. “Many expected with the economy the way it is crime would increase, but instead we saw it fall across the county.”

While the majority of crimes saw reductions in 2010, not all crimes were as high as between 2008 and 2009. The crimes of motor theft and sexual offenses even saw increases.

Here's the breakdown of crime and their numbers from 2010 and 2009:

• Florissant saw a 100 percent decrease in murders in 2010. There were two in 2009, but there were none committed in 2010.
• Robberies dropped from 61 in 2009 to 47 in 2010 for a 24 percent decrease. This was also an improvement over 2009, which saw robberies drop 17 percent from 2008.
• Aggravated assaults fell from 57 in 2009 to 51 reported in 2010.
• Residential and commercial burglaries stayed relatively the same compared to 2009. There were 250 residential burglaries reported in 2010 compared to 254 in 2009. Commercial burglaries fell from 47 reported in 2009 to 44 in 2010. A 25 percent decrease in commercial burglary was reported in 2009.
•  Motor vehicular theft saw an 18 percent increase as reports rose from 138 in 2009 to 169 in 2010. There were still fewer reported than in 2008, when the Florissant Police Department collected 197 reports. 

 Overall, both Part 1 and Part 2 crimes saw decreases in 2010. Part 1 crimes are defined as homicide, burglary, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, arson and motor vehicle theft, while Part 2 crimes are simple assault, property damage and sexual offense.

Part 1 offenses fell from 1,576 in 2009 to 1,455 in 2010 for an eight percent decrease. Part 2 offenses decreased six percent. ro

As a whole, criminal offenses reported in Florissant fell from 2,348 to 2,183 for a seven percent decrease across the board. Sgt. Boschert attributes the yearly drop to community awareness and neighbors watching neighbors.

“You don’t have to like your neighbor, but just watch out for each other,” he said. “Keep your neighborhood safe instead of having to take it back later.”