Crime in Hoover dropped almost across the board in 2023, with some categories seeing a 17-year low.

The 50-square-mile city of close to 100,000 people saw a 100 percent decrease in homicides and a 40 percent decrease in robberies.

Assaults, burglaries, vehicle break-ins and vehicle thefts also declined, with the sexual assault category being the only one to see an increase.

“Our people do a heck of a job,’’ said police Chief Nick Derzis.

“On the patrol side, they work aggressively so that if a crime happens, they try to catch them when it happens,’’ he said. “Or, on the detective side, if a crime does occur and someone gets away, we use everything in our power to make an arrest. Very rarely do you see anything about a crime not being solved.”

The state’s sixth largest city ended 2023 with no homicides, down from four the previous year.

It was the first time since 2011 that the city did not have any slayings. The most homicides Hoover has ever had in one year was five in 2015.

Homicide is one of the most difficult crimes to predict or prevent.

“Usually, a homicide takes place because of who you are hanging around with and what you’re doing when you’re hanging around them and where you hang around,’’ said Capt. Keith Czeskleba. “If you hang around people involved in nefarious activity, then your risk of becoming a victim of violent crime increases.”

“A lot of those are done behind closed door,’’ he said. “You could have a police officer riding down the street and if two people are in the house going at it, the police officer is not going to know.

“Where you can do prevention, is you can prevent some of the crimes that may lead up to it,’’ Czeskleba said. “If you’ve got an area where people like to do their drug deals, if they know police are really focusing on that area, they’ll go elsewhere.”

Police investigated 813 assaults, down from 827 the previous year. That category includes discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling, domestic violence assaults, child abuse, simple assault, and intimidation.

There were two shootings in the city last year. One of them was accidental, and the other involved a dispute between family members and ended with an arrest.

The highest-profile crime in Hoover in 2023 turned out to be hoax. Carlee Russell reported that she was abducted from I-459 when she stopped to check on a diaper-clad toddler wandering alone on the roadway.

A municipal judge found her guilty of false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident. She has appealed the verdicts to state court, with a trial set in March.

The city saw a 17-year low in the crime categories of robbery and vehicle thefts.

There were 77 robberies in Hoover in in 2007. That number has dropped each year since then, with just nine robberies reported in 2023.

That is a 40 percent decrease over 2022.

“Though there were quite a few in the early 2000s, we’ve had what I consider a low robbery rate and I think it’s because of our police officers,’’ Derzis said. “They’re out doing what they’re supposed to do.

“We have no idea how many things we curtail by being out there,’’ he said.

The robberies included a bank holdup and several incidents where shoplifting escalated to the crime of robbery.

“Nine robberies in a whole year is remarkable for a city this size,’’ Czeskleba said. “There was a time when I, alone, investigated nine robberies a month.”

Lt. Daniel Lowe said eight of the nine robberies in 2023 have already been solved, and clearance in the ninth is coming soon.

“Our reputation is if someone commits a robbery here,” Derzis said, “their chances of getting caught are pretty strong.”

Burglaries dropped 15 percent over 2022. There were 99 reported in last year, down from 117 the previous year.

The city investigated a 17-year high of 454 break-ins in 2009 and saw burglaries stay in the 400s for several years. Those numbers have steadily declined over the past decade, hitting the record low last year.

Police attribute the decline, in part, to the increase in residents installing home security surveillance. Also, they said, more people having been working from home since COVID.

There were 98 vehicle thefts reported last year, which was up from 92 in 2022. It was the only category that saw an increase over the previous year.

The lowest number of vehicle thefts reported in the city over the past 17 years was 70 in 2009. The highest was 136 in 2007.

Lowe said in many of the stolen car cases, the owners left their keys in the vehicle.

In October, he said, there was an incident where several cars were stolen in one concentrated area – all of which had the keys in the vehicle.

Car break-ins decreased from 361 in 2022 to 317 last year for a 12.2 percent decrease. The highest number was reported in 2013 with 530.

Police officials say most car break-ins happened because the vehicles are unlocked, or valuables are left in plain sight.

“We have done a significant amount of public education, but still people are leaving their cars unlocked,” Derzis said.

Police investigated 17 sexual assault reports last year, down from 20 in 2022. The lowest number in that category over the past 17 years was 13 in 2011. The highest was 48 in 2015.

Most of those, officials said, were acquaintance-based.

Department leaders said technology has been a game-changer in police investigations, and they’re looking to add to that arsenal this year.

Still, there’s no substitute for “old-fashioned police work.”

“I tell my guys that somebody should not be able to drive through Hoover and not see a police car doing something,’’ said Czeskleba, who is the captain over the patrol division. “I think that serves as a deterrent.”

“If you see a bunch of police cars, you’re going to keep on driving,’’ he said. “When we do have something happen, there’s a good chance you’re going to get caught.”

Detectives obtained 1,129 arrest warrants in 2023, the most in recent memory for the department.

“Our stats keep going down and our detectives keep solving more cases,’’ Lowe said.

The department is strongly engaged with the community through social media, and said that definitely plays a part in fighting crime.

“If they see something, they’re going to report it,’’ Czeskleba said. “The citizens never let us down and that a relationship we value.”

The department has about 190 sworn officers.

“We’ve got a good reputation for being an agency that takes all crime serious from theft to robbery,’’ Derzis said. “We answer all calls and if there’s an opportunity to potentially solve a case, we don’t care how minor it is, we go above and beyond.

“We had a great year, a great past couple of years,’’ the chief said. “But there’s really no time to sit around and talk about it and because excited about it became Jan. 1, it’s starts all over again.”