Crime in the city of Waterloo dropped for a fourth-straight year in 2018, according to information released by Police Chief Dan Trelka on Wednesday (Jan. 9, 2018).

Calls for service handled by Waterloo police officers fell about five percent, from 52,762 in 2017 to 50,203 last year.

The figures show there was a slight increase in serious offenses committed over the last 12 months, but those numbers were offset by a significant drop in less serious crimes, Trelka said.

According to the statistics, serious (Group A) offenses jumped over three-percent from 5,635 in 2017 to 5,809 in 2018. Less serious (Group B) crimes fell by more than eight-percent from 1,683 to 1,554.

Trelka said the increase in serious crimes was the result of a nearly 64-percent jump in credit card/ATM fraud cases, which went from 137 two years ago to 224 in 2018. Weapon violation arrests also spiked by 13-percent, going from 154 to 174.

Chief Dan Trelka / Photo By: Elwin Huffman
Chief Dan Trelka / Photo By: Elwin Huffman
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In the Group B category, the number of non-violent family offenses fell nearly 25-percent from 77 in 2017 to 58 last year. Public intoxication arrests dropped nearly six-percent from 215 to 203 during the same 12-month period.

"Waterloo's 2018 crime rate has remained relatively stable from the crime rate experienced in 2017," Trelka said. "These latest statistics show that Waterloo's overall crime rate continues to trend down."

The figures show that the total number of crimes committed in Waterloo during the past year fell nearly two-percent, from 11,500 in 2017 to 11,294 in 2018. The number of arrests also dropped from 3,733 to 3,519, a decrease of nearly six-percent.

According to past reports, 2018 marked the fourth-straight year that overall crime fell in Waterloo.

To view the 2018 Waterloo Crime Statistics Report, CLICK HERE.

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