- Lt. Neal Bonacci with the Omaha Police Department talks about the crime rates in Omaha for 2023.
- Auto theft is up but violent crime is down.
- Catalytic Converter theft is also down significantly.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"We are down 19 percent in 2023 compared to last year and we have actually gone back to pre-pandemic lows," Lt. Neal Bonacci with the Omaha Police Department.
That violent crime statistic is something Lt. Bonacci says the Omaha Police Department and the community should be proud of.
"At the beginning of the year, for the first about 6 months or so, we saw really really low homicides, incidents, violent crime and then obviously there has been some spike since then," Bonacci said.
Overall, the city has had fewer murders in 2023.
"We ended up with 27 homicides, 25 of those that have occurred this year have been solved," Bonacci said.
Plus, two from previous years.
But there is one crime that's way up and not really going away.
"We are still seeing an issue with Hyundai and Kia thefts," Bonacci said.
That's helped fuel an 83% increase over last year.
"If you look at our crime statistics that's the red mark basically on our crime statistics," Bonacci said.
So, what can you do to protect yourself especially in the winter when you may want to warm up your car ahead of time?
Lt. Bonacci recommends just not doing it.
"There are people out there unfortunately that are specifically looking for the exhaust and signs that your car is running, and they are not afraid to walk up and jump in the car or try the door."
One other good note - Bonacci says thefts of catalytic converters are down significantly.
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