Middletown police report drop in these types of crimes

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Rates of serious and violent crimes are down in Middletown so far this year, according to the city's police chief.

So far this year, there have been 857 serious and violent crimes reported, compared to 1,040 such crimes reported last year, according to Middletown Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw.

No homicides have been recorded in 2018, compared to five last year at this time, he said.

“Let’s pray this trend continues,” Muterspaw said last week in a social media post.

Property thefts are down as well, he said. Last year, there were 675 thefts of property, compared to 523 so far this year.

Muterspaw said domestic violence calls are down this year from 158 last year to 111 this year.

While the lower crime rating is encouraging, Muterspaw said there are improvements that still need to be worked on.

“Our DUI arrests could be better, traffic enforcement could be better, and our response time to low priority calls should be better,” he said. “But those are things that are dictated by staffing and time management. As long as our serious and violent crimes are down, I can live with increases in smaller things for the time being.”

Muterspaw said this trend is a positive thing for Middletown.

“You must win these battles to win the war and that is what we are trying to do,” he said. “The key in this progress is your community involvement. What a difference that makes when a hard working officer gets community help.”

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