How safe do you think Eau Claire is? Tuesday the Eau Claire Police Department released new crime numbers. It says crime numbers fluctuate year to year but it says the trend for crime in the area is going down.

Officers say out of eight categories, Eau Claire saw a drop in six of them and say they only saw a slight increase in other two areas. People living in Eau Claire say while they feel safe, they know the city isn't perfect.

"I see where the crime is and it's not in this neighborhood too much," says Anita Lebakken who lives in Eau Claire, and says she feels safe.

"Year to year numbers will fluctuate, a little up, a little down. We're happy to see the trend is heading downward in the last 30 years," says Officer Kyle Roder with the Eau Claire Police Department.

He says the department is proud of keeping numbers low. However there are two areas, assault and theft that were on the rise this past year. He says those numbers might be a little misleading.

"When you look at the all other as a category under theft a lot of that is the minor stuff they may have a lawn ornament that may be significant to them but a low dollar amount and there for in the past they haven't felt the need to call an officer,” says Roder.

Total thefts went up by 84 cases and total assaults were up 14 but crimes like rape, robberies and vehicle thefts were all down. Roder says officers can't be everywhere so they need your help.

"Eau Claire is a pretty tight nit community and I think we need to get back to knowing who our neighbors are that's one of the biggest crime prevention things that we put out there," says Roder.

"There was one suspicious car driving around and we called it in and they were already watching it," says Lebakken.

Roder says another factor in the increase is the ability for people to quickly and easily report crimes online instead of having an officer come to your home.