Car theft, Gun Crimes Up in Bay City according to FBI report

A new FBI crime report helps compare data for the Bay City area against the rest of the country and 2019 statistics.

According to Bay City public safety director, Mike Cecchini, the reports showed auto theft, gun violence, and criminal sexual assault were all up from 2019 rates over the course of the last 10 months.

Most surprisingly, Motor Vehicle Theft in Bay city was up 190% when compared to 2019 numbers over the course of January to July.

Cecchini says while gun violence may be up, the aggravated assault related to it has not been, possibly due to stay at home orders and a bit of cabin fever.

Data from the FBI crime report showed both firearm offenses and criminal sexual assault cases are up by double digits: Criminal sexual assault is up in the city by more than 61%, with an additional 11 cases have caused this year’s gun violence spike.

As the weather cools off and people are forced back indoors (due to both cold and more health department orders), Cecchini believes numbers of these types of crimes should begin to drop again.

On a more positive note- burglary (down 13.1%), arson (down 75%), and homicide (down100%)  are all significantly lower over the same period of studied time.