Overall Crime Drops In CT, But Concerning Trends Emerge In State Police Report

CONNECTICUT — Violent crime dropped 9 percent between 2020 and 2021 while the overall crime rate dropped 3 percent, according to the state’s annual crime report.

The report, compiled by state police, gathers data from all the state’s law enforcement agencies. One limitation of the report is that it relies on victims to report crime.

“This report shows violent and property crimes are down in Connecticut from the previous year, preserving our state’s status as one of the safest in the country,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. “We must remain laser-focused on further reducing crime.”

Robberies, burglaries and motor vehicle theft all dropped between 2020 and 2021, but homicides increased slightly and larcenies and rapes increased.

There was a large drop in reported aggravated assaults, which dropped in 2020 as well. Reported aggravated assaults went from 3,747 in 2019, to 3,699 in 2020 and 3,079 in 2021.

“These are the assaults committed by hands, bats, knives, non-fatal shootings, they're down dramatically, they're down quite a bit, which is good to see as our trends start to move,” said James Rovella, commissioner of the state department of emergency services and public protection.

Murder and non-negligent homicides increased from 107 in 2019, to 147 in 2020 and 150 in 2021, according to the report.

“The numbers we're seeing here. I got to tell you, in the 90s and 80s. I saw far, far worse numbers,” Rovella said.

Reported rapes dropped in 2020, but increased in 2021. There were 806 reports in 2019, 638 in 2020 and 786 in 2021.

It is likely that not as many victims reported rape in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rovella said during a news conference.

Robberies went from 1,949 reports in 2019, to 2,065 in 2020 and then dropped to 1,942 in 2021.

There were 6,487 reported burglaries in 2019, 6,753 in 2020, and 5,495 in 2021.

Larcenies went from 38,748 in 2019 to 40,914 in 2020 and 41,892 in 2021.

There were 6,001 reported motor vehicle thefts in 2019, 8,473 in 2020, and 7,577 in 2021.

However, numbers only mean so much if there is a crime happens nearby, Lamont said.

“[If] there's a crime that happens in your neighborhood, your street, your community that hits very close to home, and we take that to heart,” Lamont said, adding that he hopes the numbers show people more confidence in police and the criminal justice system.

Additionally, the report finds that over the last 10 years overall crime in Connecticut has fallen 30 percent, including a 43 percent reduction in violent crime and a 29 percent reduction in property crime.