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KANSAS CITY (AP) -- Kansas City officials are crediting a new anti-violence program for a slight drop in the homicide rate in 2012.

The city recorded 108 homicides last year, six fewer than 2011 but two more than in 2010.

The Kansas City Star reports the 108 homicides is one more than the city's average annual total for the decade ending in 2009.

Police Chief Darryl Forte says he's not satisfied with a small decrease in numbers. But the city announced last month that fewer homicides are occurring in urban core neighborhoods that once accounted for more than half the city's killings.

Forte credits a program that increased enforcement in those neighborhoods. And he says the lower overall numbers suggest the homicides aren't just moving to other parts of the city.

(Copyright ©2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)