Headlines don't tell complete story on crime

If you start listing the high-profile crimes that have happened in recent years, it's easy to get the wrong impression.

There have been some big crimes in our region: murders and homicides; bank robberies, murder-suicides, big fraud cases and even some bizarre and less-serious crimes that got some buzz -- a woman stealing artwork in broad daylight from McDonald's being just one example.

But overall, crime is down in the region, according to records reviewed by the Southeast Missourian for the first 11 months of the year for the past five years. (December data was not yet available).

In Cape Girardeau County and Cape Girardeau, property crimes were committed with much less frequency than a year ago. Jurisdictions saw a decrease from 2,512 to 1,931 in the city, and from 3,168 to 2,447 in the county. Both numbers reflect the lowest total crimes in the last four years. Those are significant improvements that were echoed statewide.

It's not all good news, however.

Violent crimes rose slightly in Cape Girardeau. Another measure, a ratio of crimes to residents, shows Cape Girardeau at a higher rate than the state. Across Missouri, there was one crime committed for every 31 residents. In Cape Girardeau, the ratio was 1:18; it should be noted crime is expected to occur with more frequency in higher populated areas, and because Cape Girardeau is a regional hub, there is a much higher daytime population here than what the census counts as residents.

Though many of our high-profile crimes grab the news spotlight, these incidents are not a true indication of the overall picture. It's a positive sign that overall crime decreased from last year. We hope it's a trend that continues.