Crime is continuing to decline in Vermont. The number of crimes reported last year dropped by 5.4 percent last year over 2002.
But the statistics compiled by the Vermont Crime Information Center found that the number of murders doubled from 2002 to 2003 and the number of aggravated assaults rose by seven percent. Last year was the fourth year in a row that aggravated assaults were up in Vermont. Still, the overall rate of violent crime was down 2.2 percent.
Property crime declined by 5.4 percent; burglary was down 14 percent; larceny was down three percent and motor vehicle theft was down four percent.