Cedar Rapids crime rate down in ’08, up in Iowa City

Cedar Rapids saw an overall decrease in violent crime last year, while reported crime increased in Iowa City, according to the FBI's annual national crime report released this week.

Cedar Rapids police Chief Greg Graham said he expected the city to show a drop despite the flood and a few high-profile incidents, but he was gratified by the 10.4 percent decline in violent crime.

“The majority of the credit goes to the members of our community, of which we are a part,” Graham said.

The drop in violent crime from 2007 was due mostly to a 18.5 percent decline in aggravated assaults (see chart). Only one fewer robbery was reported last year while the numbers of murders and rapes were unchanged.

Iowa City posted increases in every category of violent crime, with robberies jumping 66 percent and rape reports 25 percent.

Both cities' crime rates remain below the national average:

l Cedar Rapids reported 3.5 crimes per 1,000 population, down 0.5 percent.

l Iowa City reported 3.8 crimes per 1,000 population, up 0.5 percent.

l Nationally, the violent crime rate was 4.5 per 1,000 population (or 454.5 per 100,000).

Graham said Cedar Rapids' improvement was especially notable in light of the June 2008 flood.

“When you look at other places around the nation that go through something as devastating as this, usually crime goes up,” he said. “The community has just done a phenomenal job.”

After a year without a murder, Iowa City recorded seven in 2008. Four of those murders came March 23-34, 2008, when Steve Sueppel killed his wife, Sheryl, and their three children, then fatally crashed his minivan on Interstate 80.

Efforts Tuesday afternoon to contact Iowa City police were unsuccessful.

The crime information is included in the FBI's Crime in the United States 2008 report. The entire report, including local statistics, is posted online at www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/index.html

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