CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Cedar Rapids Police Department released its annual report for calls Wednesday where it showed violent crime was down slightly from 2021 but was higher than the 5-year average.
In 2022, police responded to 460 violent crimes. That includes 10 murder or manslaughter calls, 383 aggravated assaults, and 12 attempted murders.
In 2021, police responded to 467 violent crimes, 7 murder or manslaughter calls, and 8 attempted murders.
“2022 was a different and difficult year, but it ended in the direction we wanted to go,” said Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman.
Chief Jerman said the year started concerning because of 2 murders in January. That’s what’s happened so far this year, but Chief Jerman said the last months of 2022 were more peaceful.
“Our last homicide was in August,” he said. “We didn’t have any murders in the last quarter.”
Jerman gave some of the credit to community groups like ‘Group Violence Intervention’. That organization reaches out to people they believe to be at risk of being a victim of violence or committing crimes. He also said New Foundation 2 officers were gaining more experience, and they filled new positions.
“The message takes time, not only to deliver but for it to be absorbed,” said Jerman.
The report showed aggravated assault numbers were like in 2021 but were more than a hundred calls higher than the five-year average. Chief Jerman said he also worried about the number of guns stolen from cars. There were 53 reported last year, and recovering those weapons doesn’t often happen.
“It continues to rise, and I don’t understand the practice of keeping an unsecured firearm in your car,” he said.
Copyright 2023 KCRG. All rights reserved.