FBI Releases Preliminary 2008 Oregon and Washington Crime Stats

Salem saw decreases in rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults, but also an increase in Murders and burglaries.

Courtesy: el-cerrito.org

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Today, the FBI released a preliminary report detailing January - June 2008 crime data based on the submissions of 11,515 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. Each of these agencies had to submit data to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for January through June of both 2007 and 2008.

Nationally, there was a decrease of 3.5 percent in the number of violent crimes. The violent crime category includes murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.

The number of property crimes in the United States from January to June of 2008 decreased 2.5 percent when compared with data from the same time period in 2007. Property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.

Four cities in our area are large enough to be included in the report. Some specifics for these cities include:

Portland saw decreases in many crime categories, including rapes, aggravated assaults, and larceny-thefts. There were significant decreases in the numbers of robberies (14%), burglaries (13%), and motor vehicle thefts (35%). There was an increase in the number of murders from 10 the first half of 2007 to 15 the first half of 2008.

Eugene saw decreases in murders, rapes, and robberies with a significant decrease in burglaries (17%). There were increases in aggravated assaults, larceny/thefts, and motor vehicle thefts.

Salem saw decreases in rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults with significant decreases in larceny-thefts (14%) and motor vehicle thefts (39%). They did have two murders in the first half of 2008 compared to one in the first half of 2007, and there was an increase in the number of burglaries.

Outside of Oregon, Vancouver saw decreases in all of the seven major categories tracked, with significant declines in the number of rapes (30%), larceny/thefts (17%) and motor vehicle thefts (33%).

The chart below includes a detailed breakdown of each crime category for each city listed above during this time frame.

Note that some categories may show large shifts up or down in terms of percentage change from 2007 to 2008 simply because the raw numbers in those categories are so small.

Final figures for all cities during 2008 will be available in October 2009. This preliminary report does not contain data for cities in Oregon smaller than those listed above.

Figures used in this Report are submitted voluntarily by law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

Individuals using these tabulations are cautioned against drawing conclusions by making direct comparisons between cities. Comparisons lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents.

Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction.

That analysis for each individual area is best done by that local law enforcement agency because that agency is most familiar with the particular factors affecting the crime rate in that area.

You can view and download the entire national report from the FBI's web site at fbi.gov.