ST. LOUIS — Crime numbers for the City of St. Louis are finally public for the first time this year.
On Monday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department published the first update to its crime statistics webpage since December 2020.
Among other things, it shows between January and mid-June 2021, there were 53 aggravated assaults, which includes shootings downtown. That number increases to 58 in Baden in north city and 79 in Dutchtown on the city's south side.
When it comes to robberies, there were 22 downtown, 10 in Baden and 21 in Dutchtown.
Thieves also targeted many cars in those three areas, with almost 100 motor vehicle thefts in downtown alone.
George Barnes moved downtown seven months ago.
"Whenever you move into a neighborhood, you want it to be safe, " said Barnes.
Police reported homicides spiked in early 2021 compared to previous years, but we're told the city has seen fewer killings with 92 to date, compared to 99 a year ago at this time.
Police blame the six-month delay on the department's decision to change the way it provides crime numbers.
"Well, I'm not shocked at any of those numbers," said West Side resident, Linda Harvey. Her daughter lives in Baden with her two children.
"I think it's worse than what police are saying because I live this every day. I see it every day. It's just bad, real bad all over," Harvey said.
"We need to ensure that our law enforcement officers have all the resources they need to do their jobs and solve these cases," said Lewis Reed, the president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
Reed also thinks now that St. Louis will play a major role in President Joe Biden's new crime fighting plan, the city "will crack down on crime."
"Along with the package Mayor Tishaura Jones has brought over to us is augmenting that to ensure that we do have funding in place to ensure that the streets of St. Louis are safe, and, yes I do believe that will make a difference," said Reed.
St. Louis police still cannot compare year to year crime stats.
For now, they're focusing on month-to-month comparisons.
You can take a look at all of the crime statistics released this week on the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's website.