Crime inches up in North Carolina

For just the second time in a decade, North Carolina's annual crime rate increased last year. The rise was fueled by more reports of rape, robbery and motor vehicle theft. Burglary and larceny also have increased, while numbers for murder and aggravated assault dropped, according to numbers released Thursday by state Attorney General Roy Cooper.

While reports of both violent crime and property crime increased in the state, property crime fell almost 3 percent nationwide in 2006 and had been declining for at least the past four years, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Nationwide, murder and robbery rates have been rising for the last two years.

Cary up 11 percent

Crime in Cary jumped 11 percent last year, the third-highest increase among the state's big cities, according to the statistics.

In both Raleigh and Durham, crime was up by 2 percent. Scott Cunningham, Cary's chief of police, said comparisons can be misleading, because Cary has so much less crime.

"Two percent for somebody else is a lot more than our 10 percent," Cunningham said.

Indeed, Cary is a relatively safe place; the town had 75 aggravated assaults last year, 1,250 fewer than Raleigh, and no murders. Much of the town's increase was for property crimes, including burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson.

Cunningham said residential burglaries and crimes on construction sites accounted for most of the increase. Other factors were what he called crimes of opportunity, in which thieves take advantage of unlocked cars and garage doors left open.

Cunningham said the Cary police are working to fight the increase, including strengthening patrols in areas where crime has risen. He noted that both violent and property crime dropped from January to May this year, compared with 2006.

"This year, everything's on the downward track," he said.

LOCAL NUMBERS

Crimes rates decreased in Wake and Franklin counties in 2006 but rose in the four other Triangle counties.

UP 10.49 percent: CHATHAM - Chatham had the highest percent change in overall crime. Violent crime jumped from 183.8 per 100,000 residents to 308.7.

UP 0.51 percent: DURHAM - Durham had the highest crime rate in the Triangle, with 6,640.5 offenses for every 100,000 residents.

DOWN 6.99 percent: FRANKLIN - With 2,152.1 offenses for every 100,000 residents, Franklin had the lowest crime rate in the Triangle.

UP 7.70 percent: JOHNSTON - There were 193.4 more property crimes per 100,000 residents reported in 2006 than 2005.

UP 4.86 percent: ORANGE - Property crimes accounted for most of the increase in Orange's crime rate.

DOWN 0.97 percent: WAKE - While overall crime fell, violent crime in Wake increased slightly in 2006.