Serious crime declines 11 percent on MBTA as ridership climbs

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

The level of serious crime on the MBTA dropped in 2012, even as the system has been carrying more riders, the MBTA Transit Police said today.

Serious crime fell by more than 11 percent, from 1,159 to 1,029, compared with the year before, according to statistics released by Transit Police. The decline was led by decreases in robbery, larceny, burglary, and auto theft. The number of homicides declined from 1 to 0.

Though the overall trend was of decline, some categories trended the other way: The number of rapes increased from 1 to 2, while aggravated assaults increased from 124 to 151.

Most of the serious crime on the MBTA involved non-violent property theft, police said, while saying that bicycle theft continues to be a problem.

“We continue to conduct awareness campaigns and the MBTA continues to construct pedal and park areas to better secure bicycles. As more and more bicycles are used by our passengers, we will continue to focus on this issue,” MBTA Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan said in a statement.

Other, less-serious crimes increased by 19 percent, from 5,728 to 6,832, but that was apparently driven by an increase in fare evasion arrests over a period in which the Transit Police implemented a crackdown.