The northern Illinois city of Rockford is getting some good news about crime.

Statistics released by the city's police department show that violent crime fell 5 percent in 2017 from the previous year and property crime dropped 8 percent during the same period.

Crimes such as robbery and homicide are of particular concern among residents in Illinois' third largest city. The Rockford Register Star reports the drop in those categories was significant. The number of robberies fell to 421 last year from 543 the year before.

And after the number of homicides climbed to 27 in 2016 - the most in the city since 1996 - the city recorded 18 homicides last year.