Lafayette crime numbers remain stable

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - After a man was found dead in his Lafayette home this month, police declared the crime a homicide. But the crime had one viewer asking, "What's going on with Lafayette?"

A police action shooting that killed a man after he stabbed an officer in his face left a woman saying, "How horrible Lafayette is turning out!" Some others NewsChannel 18 spoke with around town had similar concerns about the crime rate.

"It's a little bit more crime than when I used to come here and visit my grandma when I was a kid," said Allen Ferguson, who now delivers pizza around West Lafayette.

But Lafayette Police Crime Analyst Steve Hawthorne said those concerns are unfounded.

"I would certainly disagree with them," Hawthorne said. "We've certainly been seeing the crime decrease over the years, steadily for the past five years or so. Now we do see some inconsistency by month, but that's typical."

Every month, Hawthorne crunches the numbers on what he calls "the Big Eight": four major violent crimes and four major property crimes.

Compared to last year's up through September, total crime is up by 179 reports, or about 6% from last year. But compare that to a weighted average of the past five years, and the year-to-date numbers are almost identical.

If you examine the data for violent crimes -- homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault -- the number of violent crime reports decreased by 1% from last year, and by 2% from the five-year average.

"That does surprise me, because I've been getting text messages late at night, and it just...I don't know. I thought it was going up a lot more than it really was," said Purdue student Jordan Walker.

"I suppose it does [surprise me], a little bit," said Becky McDaniel, of West Lafayette. "If anything, I would've thought it was creeping up a little faster than that."

"I think it's some of the nature of the crimes that we've had," Hawthorne said. "Certainly three homicides in one year is unusual for the city. But again, we're looking at three incidences of violence. Two of those we solved immediately."

The city has seen three homicide cases this year, which is two more than the five-year weighted average. Rape cases are also up by about 23% from the five-year average.