Photo by Maria Helen Carey.

Aggravated assaults on the Metro system are up by about 28 percent in the first nine months of this year, even as ridership is down.

A report to be presented to the Metro Board at this Thursday’s meeting finds 5.4 crimes per every million riders on the system, an increase from last year that the agency attributes to lower ridership because overall crime is down.

Bus crimes decreased by nearly 30 percent, in what Metro is hailing as its “most successful strategy” in reducing crimes—increasing Metro Transit Police presence on buses.

Train crimes are also down, though to a lesser degree of 6.7 percent.

As far as the 109 aggravated assaults on the Metro system so far in 2016, the majority of perpetrators and victims are young men. More than half take place at train stations in D.C. Most attacks involve the victim being punched, and third also include a weapon. Metro says there are three major motives: arguments, unknown/unprovoked attacks, and robberies or attempted robberies.

Here are the statistics for crimes committed against people in the Metro system.

(Image via Metro)

The system saw twice as many homicides, jumping from two to four, including two separate homicides weeks apart at the Deanwood Metro.

There were five reported rapes in 2016, as compared to none reported in 2015. One of those rapes, a harrowing attack on the Red Line, led Metro to change its policy and notify the public about any violent crime that occurred that day on Metro.

Metro saw fewer sexual harassment complaints across the board as compared to 2015—a 22 percent decrease in online reports. However, it’s unclear whether this is because sexual harassment is down or that fewer people are reporting it, even with an ongoing advertising campaign to promote reporting these incidents.

As far as crimes committed against property, the numbers are mixed:

(Image via Metro)

Cell phones remain a major target for thieves. As Metro notes, they hit the sweet spot of being “small, expensive items, and easy to steal.” While instances of snatching cell phones has decreased as compared to last year, theft of mobile devices continues in a different form: pickpocketing has increased by 33 percent.

While bicycle thefts are down, the report notes that the “hot spots” for this crime have moved from Northern Virginia to Maryland rail stations, citing Twinbrook and West Hyattsville specifically.

Metro Security Report by Rachel Kurzius on Scribd