Crime statistics for the City of Redding show an overall decrease of nearly 5% in 2016, continuing a trend of several years of improving numbers, but there was a disturbing spike in violent crimes. Rape, which is likely the most unreported of violent crimes, had been on an overall decline from 61 in 2010 down to 50 in 2015. Last year there were 84 reported rapes in Redding. Assaults, which numbered 625 in 2010 and had dropped to 417 in 2015, increased a little to 488. There were 5 homicides last year compared to the recent average of about 3. The only violent crime category that went down was robbery, by 1.5%. Property crimes were down nearly across the board, other than a very slight increase in vehicle thefts from 512 to 519. That number has been going up every year, and is more than double the number of cars stolen in 2010. Burglaries dropped by nearly 8% from the previous year, to 710, after a peak 4 years earlier of 1,088. Larceny, which covers most other theft crimes, had been climbing steadily from less than 2000 at the start of the decade to almost 2900 in 2015. Last year that dropped by almost 10%, for an overall average property crime reduction of around 8%. Chief Robert Paoletti gives a lot of credit for that improvement to his neighborhood police unit, which has taken a significant number of drug dealers out of business in and around the city’s hotel districts. Paoletti believes most property crimes are driven by Heroin and Methamphetamine addiction. With budget constraints and the failure of the public safety tax on last year’s ballot, days are likely numbered for that proactive task force.