In the first nine months of the year, robberies in Evanston are down 22 percent compared to the same period in 2014 — the sharpest decline in the statistics released by the Evanston Police Department this month.

Except for instances of motor vehicle theft and homicide, crime in Evanston has declined so far in 2015 compared with the same point last year. The statistics show a decline in all aggravated assault and battery, robberies, burglaries and arson. In total, reported crime is down 4 percent.

There have been three homicides this year, compared with two at the same point last year. The first of those homicides — all of which were gun-related — occurred at the beginning of June when a Chicago resident was shot multiple times in central Evanston. The next two homicides, which police believe are both gang-related, occurred about two weeks apart in late summer.

Evanston police responded with a program aimed at reducing violence in Evanston by getting guns off the street, deploying two officers each day dedicated to the task.

“What I’d like is to get more assistance from local prosecutors,” Ald. Jane Grover (7th) said. “Anyone willing to use a gun in a conflict should not be on the streets anymore. Perhaps we need more focus from the criminal prosecution side to get guns off our streets.”

Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan said the department meets weekly to discuss crime trends and map out deployments based on areas with higher rates of criminal activity.

“We have a crime analyst whose job is to map out crimes and look for trends and similarities so that we can deploy resources for the upcoming week,” Dugan said. “That always helps, putting resources in the right area, even if not to arrest, but deter (crime) by just being in the area.”

Motor vehicle theft has also increased, up 14 percent to 49 cases so far this year. Within three days in early August, eight vehicles were broken into on two separate streets, Dugan told The Daily.

A common cause for motor vehicle theft was unlocked car doors, Dugan said. Of the 81 motor vehicles burglaries this year, which do not include the theft of the vehicle itself, 96 percent involved unlocked vehicles.

“At the beginning of the quarter, we made a lot of arrests for burglaries to motor vehicles,” he said. “We have not been shy about mentioning that the vast majority of all of our vehicle break-ins have to do with an unlocked vehicle.”

Dugan explained that oftentimes perpetrators will go down a line of vehicles, trying door handles to see if any are open and taking what they can from the inside. In some cases, that means finding a spare or valet key and driving off in the stolen vehicle.

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