Reported crime in the City of Natchez continued its steady decline during the 1999 calender year.

The Natchez Police Department reported a 2.8 percent drop in crime last year with the number of reported offenses falling from 1569 to 1525.

&uot;I’m really pleased that we don’t have an increase and I certainly want to see it go down more,&uot;&160;said Natchez Police Chief Willie Huff.

Crimes included in these figures are classified as Part I Crimes, which make up the Uniform Crime Report of National Crime Statistics.

Crime included in the report are homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.

Murders within the City of Natchez increased from zero in 1998 to three in 1999, rapes increased from six to eight, burglaries increased from 251 to 255 and motor vehicle thefts increased from 37 to 38.

The other categories of crimes, all decreased in 1999.

Larcenies dropped the most, falling from 1,196 to 1,161 reports and aggravated assaults dropped from 51 to 34. Robberies dropped by two.

Officials believe that this drop may be a result of the system intervening before crime reaches a more serious level.

&uot;We are working really hard on the simple assaults,&uot; Huff said.

Officials are also taking a tough stand on individuals charged with domestic violence offenses.

&uot;They get arrested more and there are some pretty stiff punishments for it,&uot; Huff said.

The number of simple assaults are not included in Part I crimes but these also dropped, falling from 941 in 1998 to 829 in 1999.

&uot;It’s just indicative of the good job everybody’s doing,&uot; Huff said.