DOVER, Del. (AP) - Dover police say the local crime rate is up, but that officers also are doing a good job solving many violent crimes.
City police handled 4,561 more complaints last year than they did in 2015, an 11.6 percent increase in calls.
The number of homicides dropped from seven in 2015 to three last year, which acting police chief Major Marvin Mailey attributes to police taking more guns off the street.
Officials say the department’s clearance rates for crimes including robbery, forcible rape, burglary, and aggravated assault, remain higher than the national average for similar-sized cities.
But the Delaware State News (https://bit.ly/2oqx4p4 ) reports that an epidemic of heroin abuse has led to a to a five-year high in the number of drug offenses.
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