Peterborough’s crime rate up slightly in 2018

The latest crime stats are painting a fairly unchanged picture in Peterborough in the first two quarters of the year.

Overall, crime has increased by 2.7 per cent or 63 more incidents between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2018, over the same period last year.

In terms of violent crimes, there were no homicides during that period of time. The August shooting death of a 70-year-old woman at The Home Depot will be counted in the next round of numbers due out later this year.

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There were 2,429 reported crimes from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2018 in Peterborough.

There were 247 assaults in 2018. That’s down by 12 incidents from 2017.

Sexual assaults were also down by 13 incidents to 73 in 2018.

There were nine robbery victims in 2018, down from 16 last year.

Crimes that saw an increase this year include fraud, drug offences and impaired driving.

READ MORE: Peterborough violent crime rate soars: StatsCan

Peterborough police are also reporting a clearance rate (the rate of charges laid versus overall reported crime) of 62.7 per cent in 2018. That’s up from 61 per cent the previous year.

The city’s police service also patrols the village of Lakefield and Township of Cavan-Monaghan. The crime rate was unchanged in Lakefield, while it decreased in the township.