INDIANAPOLIS -- Nearly halfway through the year Indianapolis has seen double-digit decreases in most violent crime categories, with only one crime that continues to be a major problem.
Auto thefts saw a huge increase starting last year and that trend has continued with a 38% increase so far this year from 2,139 to 2,967.
That number stands out because so many other crimes have actually gone down.
A small pile of broken glass in the parking lot of a north side Indy apartment complex marks the spot where someone stole a Hyundai from Demetrius Brownlow.
"Yeah it's frustrating because now I've got to go through the process of hoping I get it back," said Brownlow.
Demetrius isn't the only victim of auto theft overnight. A stack of police reports from Tuesday morning shows in the span of just 3 hours IMPD took 7 reports of stolen cars.
Last year, the department issued a community alert when Kia and Hyundai thefts first began to skyrocket.
Brownlow noticed that trend but hoped he wouldn't fall victim.
"I did but I thought I'd get lucky, but no I didn't get lucky," said Brownlow.
This year, while overall property crime is down slightly by 0.8% city-wide, auto theft has continued to climb.
"Certainly Kias and Hyundais have contributed to a large portion of these auto thefts. We want to remind people to use steering wheel locks that we provide free of charge," said IMPD Lt. Shane Foley.
Aside from auto thefts, IMPD reports nearly every violent crime has seen a significant decrease so far in 2024.
Criminal Homicides are down 14.3% from 84 to 72.
Non-fatal shootings are down 12.3% from 243 to 213.
Aggravated Assaults have decreased by a huge 34.6% 2,482 to 1,622.
Robbery declined 18.3% from 651 to 532.
Overall violent crime is down 28.5%.
"We want the numbers to continue to go down, so we're hopeful with the work of our detectives and cooperation of the community as well as the use of technology and other tools, we'll continue to see that trend," said Foley.
"There's still work to be done," said Aaron Williams with the City of Peace Coalition.
While anti-violence advocate Aaron Williams praised the current violent crime trend, he insists there's still a lot of work to be done to make sure the numbers continue to go down.
"This is the time to be more vigilant than ever. We can't let our guard down. We need to double down on our efforts," said Williams.
Investigating fewer crimes has also led to more cases being solved. So far this year IMPD reports the homicide clearance rate has increased dramatically.
In 2022 the clearance rate was just 43.4%, going to 50% in 2023 and climbing up to 72.5% this year.