AURORA — The murder rate in Aurora went down significantly last year compared with the year before, as did burglaries and shoplifting, while sexual assaults saw an increase in 2014.
Overall, major crimes decreased by 6 percent last year over 2013, according to Interim Police Chief Terry Jones, who presented the city’s Public Safety Committee with the annual report Tuesday.
Jones said Aurora’s decrease in major crimes — which includes murder, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor-vehicle theft — follows a nationwide trend.
The biggest decrease came in the number of murders in 2014, 11, compared with 2013, which saw 24 murders.
“We are ,” said City Councilman Bob Roth, a member of the safety committee.
Roth noted that Aurora was the 18th-safest large city in the country, compared with Denver, at 25th, and Colorado Springs, at 33rd.
Jones did not have a reason why sexual assaults climbed from 243 in 2013 to 303 last year.
One area the city has focused its efforts to reduce crime was shoplifting.
The city increased efforts in certain parts of the city to arrest repeat shoplifters and make them post bail before being released.
In the past, Aurora police have cited shoplifters and did not arrest them. Larceny went down by more than 9 percent, compared with the year before.
“Our goal here is moving them out of the city,” Jones said.
