According to the Columbia Police Department, robbery was down by 9 percent, while assault was down 48 percent from 2007.  This means violent or personal crimes are down 39 percent over last year.  The department attributes the decrease to new tactics and changes within the department.

"This past year we have implemented several different things including the street crime unit which is going after wanted individuals, very violent individuals, those that are causing, creating some of the crime such as assaults and etc," Capt. Zim Schwartze of the Columbia Police Department said.

The department has also promoted more collaboration among units and has changed some procedures to address crime trends.

"The officers are working a different schedule now and some of the beats were rearranged and we are trying to place the officers in the areas that are needed to be more active and in the neighborhoods and we are hoping that has help to decrease some of the persons crimes," Schwartze said.

Compared to last year the numbers show property crimes have increased, except for auto theft. The department said this can be attributed to the bait car program implemented in 2008.

"I contribute a lot of that to the bait car program that we have and have been working the last year," Schwartze said.

The bait car program places specially-monitored cars all over the city in hopes that someone steals them.  

For property crimes, the police said auto theft has gone down by 36 percent.  Burglaries in Columbia are up by 48 percent while larcenies have gone up by 18 percent over last year.  In total, property crime is up 19 percent. 

Schwartze said the increase in property crimes can be linked to people trying to support their families and others trying to feed their drug habits in tough economic times.

The Columbia Police Department still has to include numbers for the month of December, but Schwartze said that the overall trends are not likely to change.