Rockdale County Sheriff's Office officials proudly reported that the county saw a significant decrease in crime - especially in burglaries - this year, the second year in a row that crime has dropped.

Part I crimes, including aggravated assaults, thefts, burglaries and robberies, in the county experienced a 20 percent reduction in 2014 compared to 2013, according to the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office.

Overall, there were 1,976 Part I crimes in 2014 compared to the 2,467 of similar crimes that were reported in 2013.

This will be consecutive years the RCSO has seen their crime rates dip. The RCSO credits the lower rate to deputies patrolling areas more and the department making strides in technological advances in 2014.

Burglaries in the county were reduced to 380 incidents reported, significantly down from the 609 cases in 2013. This figure is one Rockdale Sheriff Eric Levett is most proud of.

"All of the men and women of the RCSO continue to work hard to reduce crime in Rockdale County," said Levett in a press release statement. "In my promise to the citizens to be transparent, the RCSO conducted a community survey and based on the survey that was conducted in early 2014, citizens were most worried about burglaries. The entire agency worked very hard to reduce all crime but especially burglaries. "

The two crime figures to go up from 2013 were murder and rape incidents reported. There were three murder cases in 2014 - one more than 2013 - and there were 12 rape cases in 2014, five more than 2013.

RCSO spokesperson Cpl. Michael Camp says that those numbers are about average for the county. Rockdale County usually has less than five murder cases and between eight to 15 rape cases a year, says Camp.

"Those are a little harder to prevent," says Camp. "Until we see a significant (jump) then they're not a major concern."

The other Part I crime totals were:

Robberies (27 in 2014 vs. 39 in 2013)

Aggravated Assault (100 in 2014 vs. 159 in 2013)

Burglaries (380 in 2014 vs. 609 in 2013)

Larceny thefts (1,320 in 2014 vs. 1,485 in 2013)

Motor Vehicle Thefts (134 in 2014 vs. 165 in 2013)