FBI report: Crime down across U.S, on High Desert
The FBI on Monday released its annual Crime in the United States report for American cities, and the news was generally good, with crime numbers down in most cases nationally, in Oregon and on the High Desert.
Nationally, the estimated number of violent crimes fell 4.4 percent in 2013 when compared with 2012. Property crimes decreased 4.1 percent, marking the 11th straight year the collective estimates for property crime offenses declined, the FBI said.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program collects data on specific violent crimes (murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and specific property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.)
Nationally in 2013, every crime category saw decreases, the FBI said. More than 18,400 city, county, state, federal, college/university, and tribal law enforcement agencies voluntarily contribute data to this annual report.
In Central Oregon, Bend was not part of the 2012 statistical tables, but was for last year. Available statistics show violent and property crimes both were down from 2011 figures, with 182 violent crimes last year, including murder, rape and assault, down about 10 percent from 2011. Property crimes also were down, with more than 2,200 burglaries, car thefts and arsons reported last year.
Redmond saw both violent and property crimes down last year from 2012, with 87 violent crimes listed and 1,067 property crimes reported, mostly larceny and theft.
Prineville’s violent crime tally dropped from 34 in 2012 to 24 last year, while property crimes dropped from 307 to 295.
Sunriver is new on the list, reporting two violent crimes and 80 property crimes. On the other hand, Madras statistics were not on the 2013 list but were in 2012, when 15 violent crimes were reported and 322 property crimes.
Northwest Highlights
Some highlights from cities with populations of more than 100,000 people in the Pacific Northwest include:
In Portland, the number of violent and property crimes declined in almost every category, except for the number of rapes, which was virtually unchanged.
In Eugene, there were decreases in the number of robberies, aggravated assaults, and larceny-thefts. There were increases in the numbers of burglaries and motor vehicle thefts. There were no murders/non-negligent manslaughters in either 2012 or 2013. The number of rapes is not comparable from 2012 to 2013 due to a change in definition and reporting.
In Gresham, the number of murders/non-negligent manslaughters increased from four (in 2012) to five (in 2013). Other categories — including rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, and burglaries — saw increases as well. There were decreases in the numbers of larceny-thefts and motor vehicle thefts.
In Salem, the number of murders/non-negligent manslaughters (seven) and robberies (138) were unchanged from 2012 to 2013. There were decreases in the number of aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts. The only category with an increase was larceny-theft. The number of rapes is not comparable from 2012 to 2013 due to a change in definition and reporting.
In Vancouver, there were decreases in the numbers of murders and non-negligent manslaughter cases (from five in 2012 to two in 2013), robberies, burglaries, larceny-thefts and motor vehicle thefts. There was an increase in the number of aggravated assaults. The number of rapes is not comparable from 2012 to 2013 due to a change in definition and reporting.
The breakdown for these cities of populations of 100,000 and more is:
Portland
Crime
2012
2013
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter
20
14
Forcible Rape
231
234
Robbery
950
917
Aggravated assault
1,892
1,776
Burglary
4,471
4,128
Larceny-theft
22,398
22,216
Motor vehicle theft
3,585
3,289
?
Eugene
Crime
2012
2013
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter
0
0
Rape
72
68 (not comparable)*
Robbery
196
195
Aggravated assault
162
139
Burglary
1,515
1,539
Larceny-theft
6,054
5,773
Motor vehicle theft
435
608
?
Gresham
Crime
2012
2013
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter
4
5
Forcible rape
33
52
Robbery
207
275
Aggravated assault
243
279
Burglary
886
920
Larceny-theft
3,230
3,123
Motor vehicle theft
742
510
?
Salem
Crime
2012
2013
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter
7
7
Rape
40
47 (not comparable)*
Robbery
138
138
Aggravated assault
379
328
Burglary
1,043
983
Larceny-theft
4,958
5,143
Motor vehicle theft
730
656
?Vancouver
Crime
2012
2013
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter
5
2
Rape
72
74 (not comparable)*
Robbery
172
146
Aggravated assault
343
371
Burglary
1,044
1,007
Larceny-theft
4,343
3,950
Motor vehicle theft
1,091
976
For specific information by state or for smaller cities within Oregon and Washington, please refer to the following links:
Crime in the U.S. by state
Oregon: Offenses known to law enforcement by city
Washington: Offenses known to law enforcement by city
Analysis
The FBI simply compiles the information as it is provided from local jurisdictions. Media should contact those local jurisdictions for any analysis of the numbers listed above. Also note that the report features a prominent message cautioning against using the statistics to rank cities or counties. Such rankings can lead to simplistic or incomplete analyses, overlooking the many variables impacting crime and how the cities report it.
The FBI has been producing the Uniform Crime Report since 1930.
View the entire report: Crime in the United States, 2013
*NOTE: In many cases, the reader should not compare the number of rapes in 2012 to those in 2013. The FBI changed the definition of rape and, thus, the reporting from one year to the next is not comparable for cities that used the legacy definition for 2012 and the new definition for 2013.
