Murder, Rape, Assault Rates Decreasing In Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, OH — Murder, rape and felonious assault rates are all down in Lakewood, according to the police department's annual report. The city saw a decrease in five different categories of crime in 2017, and a slight uptick in three categories.

There was only one murder in Lakewood last year, down from four in 2016. That's a six-year low for the city.

There were five rapes in the city in 2017, down from 10 in 2016. That's a 10-year low for Lakewood.

The two categories that saw the biggest drop in incidents were breaking and entering and felonious assaults. The city had 11 assaults in 2017, down from 21 in 2016; and 35 breaking and entering incidents, down from 55 in 2016.

There were also two less arson cases in 2017 than 2016.

Everything was not roses in Lakewood last year though. There was a slight uptick in the number of burglaries, auto thefts and robberies, according to the data.

With carjackings lingering in residents' minds, it may be best to start at that data point. There were 73 auto thefts in 2017, up from 70 in 2016. That's the second highest number of auto thefts in the city since 2012.

Burglaries and robberies were up too, but are still trending down based on long-term trends. There were 80 burglaries in 2017, the second lowest number of burglaries in the city since at least 2001. Only 2016 had less burglaries, with 75.

There were 34 robberies last year, up two from 2016. That's still tied for the second lowest number of robberies in a year in Lakewood since at least 2001.

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