The St. Joseph Police Department has released its annual crime summary that shows a spike in violent crime in 2015.

Total crime reported to the department was up for 2015. There were 11,123 crimes reported in 2015 compared to 10,582 in 2014.

There were 7 murders in 2015, that’s the highest number the department said St. Joseph has seen since 2010 when there were also 7 homicides reported.

“That’s one of the areas of crime where there’s no real solution out there for preventing murders, it’s a really difficult thing,” said Chief Chris Connally with the St. Joseph Police Department.

All violent crime was up for 2015 with simple assaults leading the way with an increase of 295 reported.

Motor vehicle theft increased by 137 over 2014 with 484 reported last year.

“More than half of auto theft is preventable. Most of our auto thefts quite frequently seems to be cars left running,” Chief Connally said.

To see the full list click: 2015 CRIME SUMMARY PART 1 and click:  2015 CRIME SUMMARY PART 2.

“We review these numbers on a daily, monthly, it’s something that we continue to do all the time,” Chief Connally said. “To really bring crime down we need the help of the community.  It’s something that extends far beyond everything the police can do.  We need people to report things. Obviously the increased workload and with the dramatic increase in simple assaults as much as possible we need to get there before the assaults occur.”