Joplin Police See Slight Increase in Crime
By: Gretchen Bolander
Updated: November 9, 2012
JOPLIN, MO-- The crime rate is creeping up in Joplin after police see an uptick in theft reports. Officers point specifically to cases of larceny. October 2012 was down by four reports from September 2012 totals... but compared to October of last year, it's still an 18% increase. Joplin Police Chief Lane Roberts says the bulk of the jump includes shoplifting and construction site crime involved in Joplin's rebuilding effort.
Roberts said, "When you think about that particular category, the really big push on construction did not begin until the end of the last reporting year. And so I think when you have that change in targets of opportunity, it has made a huge change in our crime numbers."
Most other crime categories dropped in October, while there were six more cases of robbery and a 2% increase in vandalism.
