Bel Air Saw Decrease In Crime In 2018, FBI Data Show

BEL AIR, MD — New FBI data shows crime decreased in the United States from 2017 to 2018. The FBI recently published its "Crime in the United States" report for 2018 and found the estimated number of violent crimes in the United States fell 3.9 percent compared to 2017. The property crime rate also dropped nearly 7 percent from 2017.

Bel Air aligned with the nationwide trend and saw less crime.

There were 23 violent crimes in Bel Air in 2018, according to the data submitted to the FBI: two rapes, 10 robberies and 11 assaults.

In 2017, there were 27 violent crimes: one rape, 11 robberies and 15 assaults.

Bel Air also saw 231 property crimes in 2018, the data show. There were eight burglaries, 219 thefts, four motor vehicle thefts and one arson.

In 2017, there were 265 property crimes: 238 thefts, 25 burglaries and two motor vehicle thefts.

The report, though, is a snapshot of only one year, and thus not an accurate indicator of larger sustained trends.

The nationwide drop in violent crime represents the second straight annual decrease after increases in 2015 and 2016. The FBI estimated there were 368.9 violent crimes for every 100,000 Americans last year.

In Bel Air, the violent crime rate was lower than the national rate last year at 229.3 per 100,000 residents. That includes zero murders and nonnegligent manslaughters. The murder rate in Bel Air was 0 per 100,000 people, lower than the national rate of 5.0. The violent crime rate dropped in the past year, since in 2017 it was 267.09 per 100,000.

Overall in the nation, robbery fell 12 percent from 2017, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter decreased by 6.2 percent, and aggravated assault dropped by a fraction of a percent.

Rape was the only violent crime nationally to increase in 2018 from 2017. The FBI began to collect rape statistics under a revised definition in 2013, and the agency decided to stop the reporting of rape data using the old definition in 2017. But to remain consistent with past reports, the 2018 update includes figures based on the former definition.

The new definition expands the meaning of rape to include additional forms of penetration of a victim’s body.

Some 139,380 cases of rape were reported under the revised definition in 2018, up from 135,666 in 2017. By comparison, some 101,151 cases of rape were reported under the legacy definition, up from 99,708 in 2017.

In 2018, the FBI estimated there were 2,362.2 property crimes per 100,000 Americans nationwide, a decrease of 6.9 percent from the 2017 estimated rate. Bel Air had a rate of 2,303.7 property crimes per 100,000 residents.

The FBI estimated there were nearly 7.2 million property crimes across the United States in 2018. Property crimes include burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson, and all five of the categories saw a decrease from 2017.

Here are other notable findings for Bel Air in 2018:

• Population: 10,027
• Robbery: 10
• Aggravated Assault: 11
• Burglary: 8
• Larceny-theft: 219
• Motor vehicle theft: 4

Notable nationwide findings:

• There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes across the country.
• Law enforcement made an estimated 10.3 million arrests in 2018 (excluding traffic violations) which is a slight decrease from 2017.
• The juvenile arrest rate fell 11 percent in 2018 over the 2017 rate.
• Victims of property crime, excluding arson, lost an estimated $16.4 billion in 2018.

The data used in the 2018 “Crime in the United States” report was provided by more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies across the country.

— By Gus Saltonstall and Elizabeth Janney