When it comes to crime in the City of Erie in 2018, so far, the number of incidents are down.

On Thursday, Erie Mayor Joe Schember released the first quarter crime statistics for 2018.

The numbers are from January through March of 2018, compared to the same time last year.

The numbers are as follows:

Crime Type:                                       2017               2018

Shots Fired                                       43                    21

Aggravated Assault                         17                    10

Gun Shot Victims                             17                    10

Armed Robbery (Firearm)               25                    7

Robbery (Knife)                                1                      5

Strong Arm Robbery                        25                    15

Robbery (Other)                               0                      0

Home Invasion Robbery                 1                      1

Criminal Homicide (Firearm)          3                      2

Criminal Homicide (Other)             1                      1

Firearms Recovered                        45                    44

Firearms Reported Stolen              15                    12

Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny says a there are a number of factors for the lower numbers, including the record snowfall, police outreach, and Unified Erie's call-in initiative.

"That's bringing these people that are specifically identified as being involved in the issues, in the violence in our streets, and it's bringing them in,” said Chief Spizarny.  “It's giving them a warning, that we now know who they are, we're targeting them, and there are services out there that are available."