St Joseph Police say the number of reported crimes in 2012 were within their expectations, increasing by about 8%, and officials say they expect another increase in 2013. Read the entire report here: 2012 Crime Report Annual Summary SJPD

The Crime Analysis Unit project reports an increase in so-called “Part One” crimes of about 14%. The number of murders, assaults and rapes decreased, and total violent crimes dropped by about three percent. But there was a large spike in robbery reports. The number of robberies in 2012 increased by 14 (+17%) over the year before.

Motor vehicle thefts increased by 28% to 83 for the year. Burglary, stealing, arson and vandalism cases also increased. Police say they took 963 more reports for non violent crimes for an increase of 11%.