In an effort to reach a common understanding of the problems facing Bloomington, the Task Force surveyed public safety statistics, crime reports, and obtained testimony from several Bloomington institutions.
Actual numbers are less important than trends.
Property crimes have held rather steady over the 16 year period at roughly 2500 incidents. Larceny and theft have been increasing very gradually, reaching a high in 1996 of about 2000 incidents. Burglary has remained rather constant at approximately 400 cases, robbery at less than 30 cases, and aggravated assaults dropped from a previously increasing average of nearly 500 incidents to less than 100 in 1996. Motor vehicle theft has remained at about 150 over the past five years. No criminal homicides were reported in 1996 and, according to the Police, just under 30 rapes were reported.