Things are looking brighter so far in the first half of 2014 with a seemingly large drop in reported crimes.

In comparing the crime statistics for the first six months of 2014 to the first six months of years past, the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office is reporting a substantial reduction in crime.

Overall, the RCSO saw a 28 percent reduction in overall crime for the first six months of 2014 when compared to the first six months of 2013.

This reduction comes from an 11 percent drop in robberies, 40 percent drop in aggravated assaults, 52 percent drop in burglaries, 18 percent drop in larceny-thefts and 17 percent drop in motor vehicle thefts. The murder total stayed the same at 1 and rapes increased from 3 in 2013 to 4 in 2014.

"We are definitely off to a great start in reducing crime for 2014," said Sheriff Eric J. Levett. "The RCSO deputies have worked very hard to make crime reduction a reality. I think that a lot of the equipment and technological improvements that were made in 2013 have definitely helped in our crime fighting efforts so far this year. Our deputies are dedicated to reducing crime so that Rockdale County residents feel safe, and given the proper tools and better training, we are seeing those dividends pay off. As long as the RCSO and residents of Rockdale County remain diligent and work together in fighting crime, we should continue to see continued reductions in crime at the end of 2014 as well."

One technological improvement that has been utilized by the RCSO in 2014 is the use of Public Engine's product, CommandCentral. Using the Analytics and Predictive components of CommandCentral, deputies from the street level to command staff can view recent crime trends and see where crime is predicted to occur next. This has led to more efficiency, as deputies and supervisors can now focus their patrol efforts where they are needed.

# of Crimes in the First Half of the following years: 

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Change % Change
Murder 2 0 0 1 1 0 0%
Rape 7 12 4 3 4 1 33%
Robbery 20 20 12 18 16 -2 -11%
Aggravated Assault 122 113 97 104 62 -42 -40%
Burglary 280 275 333 313 151 -162 -52%
Larceny-Theft 696 667 753 781 641 -140 -18%
Motor Vehicle Theft 69 90 103 84 70 -14 -17%
Crime Total 1,196 1,177 1,302 1,304 945 -359 -28%

The # Change and % Change columns represent the difference between 2013 and 2014 data.