The overall number of serious crimes reported in Long Beach remained essentially flat during 2016, but there was a slight uptick in the number of violent offenses compared to the previous year, according to data unveiled by city officials Monday.

Despite the bump in violent crime, the number of homicides in the city dropped by more than 8 percent, a point Mayor Robert Garcia emphasized at a Monday news conference. There were three fewer killings in 2016 than the 36 reported in 2015, according to the police department’s statistics.

“There’s still a lot of work to do, but I think the numbers are going in the right direction,” Garcia said, comparing Long Beach to other cities in the region that have also been fighting crime spikes.

Overall, violent crime in Long Beach was up 3.5 percent, but property crime declined 0.5 percent. Combined, those numbers made for a total crime increase of just 0.1 percent.

This marks a change from the midpoint of 2016, when property crime was up and violent crime was increasing more sharply.

Through July, police were fighting an 8 percent uptick in violent crime — a category that includes rape, robbery, homicides and serious assaults. They were also up against a property crime increase of 1.4 percent. That category includes burglary, theft, auto theft and arson.

‘People are listening’

Monday, Police Chief Robert Luna praised his officers and the community for helping dull that spike.

“In order to reduce crime you have to try and prevent it,” he said. “So we’re constantly out talking to people about making sure you lock your doors and your windows, you’re not leaving things in your cars and things of that nature. And people are listening.”

He pointed to categories like residential burglary — which was down 1.3 percent — and bike theft — which plummeted 26.5 percent — according to city statistics.

Other crimes, however, showed double-digit increases. The number of rapes increased 10 percent with 18 more reported in 2016 than 2015, and robberies were up almost 8 percent, according to the city.

Long Beach police and other departments in the region have been trying to tamp down crime rates that have rebounded from recent historic lows.

For instance, in 2014, Long Beach saw the fewest number of violent crimes in 42 years, but in 2015 that number increased by almost 20 percent.

In that same period, police departments have had to adjust to reforms in the criminal justice system, Luna said Monday. Those changes include softening California’s three-strikes law, reclassifying some drug and nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors and the state’s efforts to reduce the prison population, which included putting certain paroles under the supervision of local authorities.

“There’s so much change going on,” Luna said. “So when we look at crime we really have to look at it differently.”

Calls to police increase

Long Beach police officers’ workloads have also increased, Luna said.

The number of calls to the department grew 6.6 percent, amounting to about 13,000 more than 2015, according to the chief.

“Our people are working harder than ever, and that’s important to throw out there,” Luna said.

Garcia highlighted that Long Beach is now expanding its police force thanks to voters’ approval of a local sales tax measure in June.

“We’ve actually for the first time in about 10 years increased the net number of officers in the city,” he said.

Luna said money from Measure A will also help reopen the department’s south division and fund officers who will be dedicated full time to training recruits at Long Beach’s police academy, which has boosted the number of recruit classes it’s pushing through.

Previously, the department had to take officers out of patrol cars to works shifts at the academy when classes were running.

In the coming year, city officials also hope to give the police department a boost with some new thinking.

Long Beach’s Innovation Team, a grant-funded group of in-house consultants, will shift their focus from economic development to public safety.

According to the team’s director, Tracy Colunga, the group will focus on three main areas at the police department: exploring opportunity for new technology, data-driven solutions for fighting crime and providing services for the homeless, addicted or mentally ill, and new ways for meaningful community engagement.