NATCHEZ &8212; Last weekend&8217;s murder was the first in the county this year, but the shooting brought the total number in Natchez and Adams County up to four &8212; one more than what&8217;s become the norm for the gruesome statistic in years past.

But the numbers are misleading, Police Chief Mike Mullins said of the three murders in the city limits, and crime isn&8217;t increasing.

&8220;We generally have an average of one to two incidents of homicide each year,&8221; Mullins said. &8220;This year, we had two people killed at one time,&8221; he said, referring to an August shooting of two men at a nightclub on Homochitto Street. &8220;So it fits the pattern.&8221;

A suspect was arrested later that day.

The other city murder this year was that of Billy Dean Arnold Jr. in April. John Christopher Case was charged and later indicted for murder.

Mullins said he did not expect another homicide for the rest of the year.

In the county, Sunday&8217;s killing of 35-year-old Jacqueline Thomas is still unsolved, and no suspects have been named, making the case out of the ordinary for the area.

With the exception of the still unsolved death of Marshall Mark Brown &8212; who was found dead in his parked RV on U.S. 61 North in March 2005 &8212; no county or city murder has gone unsolved for any length of time in recent years.

Brown&8217;s murder was one of two in the county last year. Wanda Jane Jenkins, 36, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last week in the other murder &8212; the death of Kim Donald on Hobo Forks Road in October 2005.

In the city, the only murder of 2005 was that of James Anderson on Garden Street in September. Brian Wilson, 21, turned himself in and was charged with murder.

But the increase in the number of murders this year is the only statistic on the rise in the city, Mullins said.

The past few years have seen the lowest crime rates in a while, he said.

Sexual assault reports have dropped from 24 in 1995 to six this year. Aggravated assault has gone from 91 to 14, robbery from 20 to eight and grand larceny from 262 to 47 over the same time period.

Community involvement has been a major factor in crime drops, Mullins and Sheriff Ronny Brown said. Neighborhood Watch groups and calls from concerned citizens have solved numerous crimes in recent years and prevented countless others, they say.

Despite fears and stories from other areas, Hurricane Katrina evacuees didn&8217;t affect Natchez crime adversely, Mullins said.

Crime statistics are down in the county too, Brown said.

Sexual assault reports dropped from 24 in 1996 in the county to four last year and only nine so far this year. Robbery reports went from 31 to three.

Brown said he thought there were several reasons crime has been down in the county over the last several years.

&8220;Burglary is down because the deputies are out there patrolling the city and county,&8221; Brown said. &8220;They&8217;re working and looking. And we hope the burglars will see them and stop what they&8217;re doing.&8221;

The only county numbers that are significantly higher this year than last year are aggravated assault and sexual assault.

In 2005, there were two county reports of aggravated assault, and so far this year, there have been 21.

There&8217;s a reason for the change in aggravated assault statistics, Brown said.

&8220;Instead of calling domestic violence reports simple assault, we have been charging them with the maximum we can by law,&8221; Brown said.

That means domestic violence cases are often classified as aggravated assault, a felony.

&8220;We hope that by arresting them and charging them with a felony we can stop a possible murder, stop it before it gets too bad,&8221; he said. &8220;We want to let them know we&8217;re serious about it.&8221;

There were four county cases of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault in 2005 and nine so far this year.

Brown said it was difficult to prevent sexual assault, especially if the victim knows the offender.

And more often than not, crimes against other people are domestic in nature, both agencies say.

In every solved murder, both parties were acquaintances or related. In nearly all the sexual assaults and many of the aggravated assault cases, the victim knows the suspect.

Drugs also play a major role in nearly every area crime, they said.

&8220;Since I started as an investigator in the 1980s, over 80 percent of the arrests I&8217;ve seen have been drug users,&8221; Mullins said.

Those who use drugs like marijuana, cocaine and prescription drugs are driven to steal to feed the habit, he said.