According to police records, which are annually reported nationally as part of the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, crime in Laurel is down.

“This is the first time in several years that we have gone this far into the year without a homicide,” Stewart said. “I realize that you can’t prevent all crimes, but we are thankful that we’ve made it this far.”

According to the records, Laurel had four murders in 2007, which is the same number of murders recorded in 2008.

Police officials said the UCR for the first six months of this year with detail numbers should be available for release soon.

However, officials say the report should be favorable.

“From 2006-07, our crime rate went down 19 percent. Then from 2007-08 it went down 13 percent,” Cox explained. “Now the first six months of this year, we are holding steady compared to the first half of 2008.

“More importantly, we have had no homicides so far this year,” Cox added. “The public is really pitching in and helping us.”

Stewart credits public support as also being a key to making a difference in the crime rate.

“We’ve received cooperation from citizens and that has really helped out a lot,” the deputy police chief said. “We just appreciate the work that everyone has done to keep crime down in Laurel.”