South Bend Police Department hosts crime statistics meeting; sees overall drop in crime

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Once again last month, overall crime and violent crime in particular continued to drop in South Bend.

Despite the bad weather, police held their regular crime statistics meeting on Wednesday night at police headquarters on Sample Street. Sgt. Jarveair Borne wasn’t playing to a packed house on Wednesday at the South Bend cop shop.

A small contingent of residents braved the snow for the department’s crime stats meeting and learned that burglaries and aggravated assaults are down. The number of burglaries in residences fell from 27 in December to 16 this month. Aggravated assaults dropped by 11, as there were 57 in December and 26 in January.

There were no murders in January, and drug arrests are up. In January, the number of drug arrests rose by 16 from 26 in December to 42 in January.

“We’re very happy that we have fewer shooting victims in the city. We’re very happy that we’re seeing less part one crimes, violent crimes. That’s something that we can be extremely proud of,” said Brian Meador, PFC with the South Bend Police Department.

The one black mark on the stat sheet: rapes went from four in December to 10 in January.

Catherina Zmud, a South Bend resident, was looking at the big picture.

“As someone who has lived in South Bend my entire life, I’ve been under the impression that the crime stats have been improving for more than the last five years, so I think these guys are doing a great job,” she said.

Snow aside, Zmud encourages South Bend residents to drop in for the police department’s regular crime stats meetings. The next is slated for April.

Copyright 2025 WNDU. All rights reserved.