The Vicksburg Police Department (VPD) during Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen released crime statistics for the month of January, with a noticeable uptick in the amount of aggravated assaults for the month.

Chief of Police Penny Jones reported 11 aggravated assaults were worked in January, a 267% jump from the three reported in December.

Despite the sharp increase in assaults, Jones said the charge itself is applied across a wide variety of violent encounters VPD handles, adding to the overall number.

“If we face a situation where someone has shot or stabbed someone, we face the burden of having to prove that person did what they did with intent to kill,” Jones explained. “So, that’s why you will often see someone who is accused of a shooting, or a stabbing, facing an aggravated assault charge instead of attempted murder. It’s about what we can prove and how we can get a violent offender off the streets and keep Vicksburg safe.”

Despite the increase in assault charges, there were no incidents of murder for the second straight month. 

Other notable crime statistics included:

 

• One report of rape, up from zero reported in December
• One report of robbery, down from four reported in December.
• Four reports of business burglaries, up from two in December.
• Five reports of residential burglaries, up from three in December.
• A total of 20 reports of automobile burglaries, up from 17 in December and including 11 of secured vehicles (up from 7 in December) and nine of unsecured vehicles (down from 10 in December).
• Four reports of automobile thefts, down from five in December.
• A total of 22 reports of domestic violence, up from 13 in December.