FBI: Crime in Utah falling, still above pre-pandemic levels
Author: Derick Fox
Fox , Derick. “FBI: Crime in Utah Falling, Still above Pre-Pandemic Levels - ABC4 Utah.” Abc4, 24 Oct. 2023, www.abc4.com/news/crime/fbi-crime-in-utah-falling-still-above-pre-pandemic-levels/.
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SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently released updated crime statistics nationwide, showing crime in Utah is on an overall decline but still above pre-pandemic levels.
The crime data comes from voluntarily submitted reports submitted to the FBI by local law enforcement agencies. According to the FBI, 135 out of 147 Utah agencies submitted data for the year 2022. Overall, the state saw a 7.2% decrease in violent crimes and a 23.1% decrease in property crimes from a peak in 2020.
was the “peak” they refer to in 2020 relevant to the riots/protests?
Utah continues its trend of being well below the national average for violent crimes, according to the data. The data does show an overall national rise in property crimes, but for the first time in the last 10 years, Utah’s property crime rate is below that nationwide.While the downward trend for violent crimes – which include crimes such as homicide, rape and aggravated assault – is promising, FBI data shows rates are still above pre-pandemic levels.
The Beehive State, much like the rest of the United States, reported a large bump in violent crimes in 2020. Utah reported a 10% increase in violent crimes during the pandemic year from 2019. While the number of violent crimes has been steadily declining, they are still 2% higher compared to 2019.
Richard Rosenfield, criminal justice professor emeritus at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, told the Associated Press the drop in violence can be largely attributed to subsiding “stresses and strains” from the pandemic.
I think I mostly agree with this statement, but I partially disagree because of the stress of rising costs on everything which I would assume leads to more crime related to stealing property or tax evasion.
“By and large, what we’re seeing is simply a return to something approaching normal after the big changes associated with the pandemic,” said Rosenfeld. He went on to tell the Associated Press that with more people out in public and on the streets, it’s more difficult to commit a crime. “Because there are so many eyes on the street.”
By “eyes on the street”, does the author mean both normal people going outside again as well as more cops/patrol being enforced in Salt Lake?
You can see the full Utah Crime statistics, as well as the stats nationwide, on the FBI’s website.
The Associated Press attributed to this article.
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