Havre de Grace Sees Crime Drop As Population Increases: FBI Data

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — Crime decreased in the United States from 2017 to 2018, according to new data from the FBI. The city of Havre de Grace aligned with the trend, seeing a dip in violent crime even as its population increased.

There were 32 violent crimes in Havre de Grace in 2018, according to the data submitted to the FBI. Certain crimes are considered by the FBI's definition as violent: murder, rape, robbery and assault. In Havre de Grace in 2018, the data indicated the city had one murder, five rapes, six robberies and 20 assaults.

The total represented a drop from the previous year. In 2017, Havre de Grace reported 40 violent crimes: two murders, seven rapes, four robberies and 27 assaults. There was also a population of 13,610 in Havre de Grace that year.

Here are other notable findings for Havre de Grace in 2018:

• Population: 13,655
• Murder: 1
• Rape: 5
• Robbery: 6
• Aggravated assault: 20
• Violent crimes overall: 32
• Burglary: 40
• Larceny-theft: 165
• Motor vehicle theft: 12
• Property crimes overall: 217

In Havre de Grace in 2017, there were a total of 192 property crimes, so those did increase last year, based on the report. There were 33 burglaries, 156 larceny-thefts, three motor vehicle thefts and three cases of arson in the city in 2017.

National Stats Show Declines In Most Crimes

The nationwide drop in violent crime represents the second straight annual decrease after increases in 2015 and 2016.

Overall, robbery fell 12 percent from 2017, murder and non-negligent 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.

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.

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.
• In 2018, the FBI estimated there was a 6.9 percent decrease nationwide in property crimes.

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