Bend police see better economy behind crime nos. drop
The FBI on Monday released its annual Crime in the United States report for American cities. Nationwide, most figures showed an improvement from the previous year, as they did for several cities in Oregon and on the High Desert.
Nationally, the estimated number of violent crimes in the United States decreased by 0.2 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year. Property crimes dropped by a total of 4.3 percent, but collectively still cost Americans an estimated $14.3 billion in losses.
In Bend, overall violent crimes like murder, rape and assault dropped by 37 percent from 2013 to 2014.
“When the economy gets better, I think typically your violent crimes will go down,” Bend police Lt. Clint Burleigh said Tuesday. He added that that several other factors, including community-focused policing, could also be a factor in the trend.
Aggravated assault dropped the most in that category — by 46 percent.
Property crimes dipped slightly, down 6 percent, but the numbers could already be back on the rise.
“I actually would think that our property crimes would be a little higher in 2015, because of the amount of people that have been in town,” Burleigh said. “As population increases, you’re going to get some increases in property crime.”
In Redmond, violent crimes were slightly down, according to Lt. Mike Kidwell, who also said the FBI made errors in reporting the department’s data.
Redmond property crimes also decreased — down about 10 percent — but Kidwell said he suspects those numbers will level off this year.
The city of Madras did not report crimes to the FBI.
About 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States voluntarily contribute information to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.
That program collects data on violent crimes (including murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) and on property crimes (including burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft).
In addition to the offenses listed above, the UCR Program also collects arrest data for twenty other offenses that include all other crimes except traffic violations.
***Northwest Highlights***
Some highlights from select cities in the Pacific Northwest with populations of more than 100,000 people are as follows:
— In Portland, there were increases in each statistical category except robberies and aggravated assaults, which remained unchanged.
— In Gresham, there were increases in aggravated assaults, larceny-thefts, and motor vehicle thefts. There was a decrease in murder and nonnegligent homicides, down from five in 2013 to two in 2014 as well as a decrease in rapes from 52 to 47.
— In Salem, there were increases in aggravated assaults and larceny thefts while there were decreases in all other categories.
— In Vancouver, there was an increase in murder and nonnegligent homicides in 2014, up from two to six. There were also increases in rapes and robberies, but there were decreases in aggravated assaults, larceny-thefts, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts.
**Portland**
Crime 2013 2014
Murder and nonnegligent homicide 14 26
Rape 234 262*
Robbery 917 847
Aggravated assault 1,776 1,776
Burglary 4,128 4,146
Larceny-theft 22,216 24,707
Motor vehicle theft 3,289 3,376
**Gresham**
Crime 2013 2014
Murder and nonnegligent homicide 5 2
Rape 52 47*
Robbery 275 215
Aggravated assault 279 285
Burglary 920 915
Larceny-theft 3,123 3,500
Motor vehicle theft 510 746
**Salem**
Crime 2013 2014
Murder and nonnegligent homicide 7 2
Rape 47 44
Robbery 138 103
Aggravated assault 328 356
Burglary 983 828
Larceny-theft 5,143 5,562
Motor vehicle theft 656 641
**Vancouver**
Crime 2013 2014
Murder and nonnegligent homicide 2 6
Rape 74 89
Robbery 146 151
Aggravated assault 371 331
Burglary 1,007 821
Larceny-theft 3,950 3,617
Motor vehicle theft 976 821
On the High Desert:
BEND: 2013 2014
Violent crime 182 114
-Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 1 0
-Rape 21 16
-Robbery 22 23
-Aggravated assault 138 75
Property crime 2,267 2,140
-Burglary 267 255
-Larceny-theft 1,913 1,799
-Motor vehicle theft 87 86
-Arson 39 20
PRINEVILLE: 2013 2014
Violent crime 24 22
-Rape 1 2
-Robbery 1 0
-Aggravated assault 22 20
Property crime 295 354
-Burglary 45 58
-Larceny-theft 249 282
-Motor vehicle theft 1 14
-Arson 2 0
REDMOND: 2013 2014
Violent crime 87 88
-Rape 11 15
-Robbery 15 24
-Aggravated assault 61 49
Property crime 1,067 965
-Burglary 157 106
-Larceny-theft 867 812
-Motor vehicle theft 43 47
-Arson 11 11
SUNRIVER: 2013 2014
Violent crime 2 2
-Rape 0 1
-Aggravated assault 2 1
Property crime 80 56
-Burglary 16 2
-Larceny-theft 60 53
-Motor vehicle theft 4 1
*NOTE: In 2013 the Summary UCR definition of rape was changed. Where indicated, the statistical data reflects the legacy (pre-2013) definition of rape. For a complete explanation of the change in definition please refer to the addendum in the UCR at https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/resource-pages/rape-addendum
For specific information on cities within Oregon, please refer to the following link:
For specific information on cities within Washington, please refer to the following link:
The FBI simply compiles the information as it is provided from local jurisdictions. You will need to 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 its reporting.
The FBI has been producing the Uniform Crime Report since 1930. View the entire 2014 report here: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014
