Crime Down, Murders Up in Pittsburgh

Even though the city’s murder rate jumped 38% last year Pittsburgh’s violent crime rate fell 2.8%. Property crime was also down. It fell 9.4%. The FBI released the numbers today. Violent crime includes murder, aggravated assault and rape. In 2008 there were 72 murders in Pittsburgh. The number of rapes moved from 129 in 2007 to 136 in 2008. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says he is pleased that the overall number is coming down but the murder numbers concerns him. He says the city has been working on combating the homicide rate and police Chief Nate Harper will continue to do so. He says the city will look closely at the numbers and see if there are any changes the police department should make to better fight crime.