MADISON, Wis. -- Madison Police Chief Noble Wray addressed city leaders at the Madison Common Council meeting on Wednesday.

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Wray talked about the increase in crime in the city -- overall, it's up 5.5 percent. Violent crime fell over 14 percent in the last year, but something else is driving that increase, WISC-TV reported.

"An 8.3 percent increase with the property crime," said Wray.

Smash and grab thefts and more sophisticated heists are on the rise and Wray said there's a reason for it.

He praised the recent success of its "blue net" task force, for putting burglars behind bars.

"If you're able to arrest one person, a lot of times you're clearing up a 100 burglaries," said Wray.

Council members in attendance were happy to hear that at least one new patrol team per police district will hit the streets this coming year.

Thuy Pham-Remmele, who serves the west side's District 20, hopes the chief's changes can make a difference.

"We want to be safe and we want to be outside enjoying the community," said Pham-Remmele. "People do believe that crimes don't go away if we don't follow and go to the roots, so it's like a bubble, if you squeeze it here, it appears there."

"Someone asked well why do you think this happening chief? Drugs are right at the hub of this...we're seeing more heroin on the street, more crack cocaine," said Wray.

And there's something else fueling the property crime fire that Wray said he hasn't seen before in his 24-year tenure with the Madison Police Department.

"There is a gang connection, a serious gang connection with these. We haven't had that in years past," said Wray.

Much of that gang activity is a result of what Wray calls a rise in Latino and girl gangs.

Last year, the police department reassigned an officer to gang enforcement to help combat that problem and along with the burglary task force, they're actively working to combat the problem.

Wray spoke to the level of sophistication of this gang involvement.

He gave one example of a man police recently arrested allegedly in connection with a hundred burglaries. Wray said the man had worked to get other people involved in a crime ring -- even teenagers -- who knew him on the street as the king, WISC-TV reported.

As for those 30 new officers city council approved last year, 14 of them are already on the street and 16 more start patrols next year.

Four will be promoted to sergeant status if the budget for those promotions is approved. If not, they'll serve as patrol along with two that will be assigned to the central district one to the west district, one to the south, two to traffic enforcement and six to general patrol.