Among the highlights of Chief Williams’ report was an overall reduction in sexual assaults by 62 percent compared to spring of last year. Reported rapes have fallen by half.
Williams told Council "that’s the most significant reduction we’ve seen in sexual assaults in, I’d say in a decade."
But Williams also told Council that reports of gun violence in Springfield are up. Since the beginning of this year, police report 101 shots fired calls with 22 individuals injured. Even though that’s down from last year overall, recent trends are climbing.
“We were trending down the first part of the year," Williams said Monday evening at the meeting. "That trend has reversed as we’ve moved into the summer months."
For the last three months, Springfield has seen an increased in shots fired calls and individuals injured compared with the first three months of the year, Williams said.
Williams also says 133 illegal guns were seized by Springfield police in the first six months of this year.
Over all 12 months of last year, police seized 229 guns.
