The results are in. Last year, violent crime in Provo was up from 2004, but property crime in the city dropped.

Looking at the overall results, Provo police Capt. Rick Healey is pleased.

"Statistically, when you're looking at the rest of the communities across the country, we look pretty good," he said.

Monday, the FBI released its preliminary crime statistics for 2005. According to the report, Provo's violent crime rate rose 17 percent compared to 2004 -- with 11 more rapes in 2005 than in 2004 and two more murders. According to the Associated Press, violent crime increased nationally 2.5 percent from 2004, which equates to more than 1.4 million crimes. It is the largest percentage increase since 1991, but the numbers may not tell the whole story.

Jeffrey Sedgwick, director of the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics told the AP that it is not clear whether the numbers reflect a real increase, or the ordinary year-to-year variations that statisticians call "static noise."

Sedgwick said it is possible that crime rates in the U.S. are approaching a floor below which it may be difficult or even impossible to go, he told the AP. "I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect you can always drive the crime rate down," he said.

Healey said Provo's statistics haven't fluctuated much over the past six years.

The Provo police forward its statistics to the FBI, which acts as a database, Bob Wright, spokesman for the FBI in Salt Lake City, said.

Though the report shows Provo had three murders in 2005, there were actually two. One child's death was initially investigated as a murder, but a coroner's report showed that the child died of natural causes.

Healey said 2005 was the first year since 2000 that there was a murder in Provo.

Nationally, murders rose 4.8 percent, meaning there were more than 16,900 victims in 2005. That would be the most since 1998 and the largest percentage increase in 15 years. Still, the AP reports that some big cities -- Detroit, Los Angeles and New York -- saw murder numbers drop.

Still, crime increased in several big cities across the country. Murders rose from 59 to 104 in Birmingham, Ala., up 76 percent; from 89 to 126 in Kansas City, Mo., a 42 percent rise; from 87 to 122 in Milwaukee, a 40 percent jump; and from 79 to 109 in Cleveland, up 38 percent.

Looking at those cities, Healey is glad he's in Provo.

He credits the residents for keeping the peace.

"We're grateful that we're not in the same boat as other cities around the country," he said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.