Violent Crime Totals Down, Property Crime Totals Up for Arlington in 2015: FBI Data

ARLINGTON, MA — New data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Tuesday indicates that the violent crimes known to law enforcement decreased in 2015 compared to 2014 in Arlington, but the number of property crimes increased in 2015.

According to the latest Uniform Crime Reporting statistics (UCR), there were 44 violent crimes reported in Arlington in 2015, compared to 63 violent crimes reported in 2014 representing a 30 percent decrease. However, the number of total property crimes increased from 382 in 2014 to 397 in 2015 representing a increase of just under four percent.

That's based on reported offenses documented in the FBI's 2015 Uniform Crime Report.

According to the UCR program, violent crime is composed of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crime is includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

Here's a look at the difference in violent crimes reported between the two years as listed in the latest data. There were no reported murders or non-negligent manslaughter crimes reported in either year.

• Rape(revised definition): 2 in 2015, 9 in 2014
• Robbery: 6 in 2015, 9 in 2014
• Aggravated Assault: 36 in 2015, 45 in 2014

Here's how Arlington's 2015 property crime statistics compared to its 2014 numbers. The FBI does not publish arson data unless it receives data from either the agency or the state for all 12 months of the calendar year.

• Burglary: 84 in 2015, 62 in 2014
• Larceny/Theft: 283 in 2015, 303 in 2014
• Motor Vehicle Theft: 30 in 2015, 17 in 2014
• Arson: zero in 2015, 2 in 2014

The UCR serves as guidelines for many things, from informing law enforcement decision on budgeting and resource allocation, to informing lawmakers' anti-crime legislation.

However, the FBI cautions against using them as a means of comparing different locales, since there are many factors at play, including but not limited to: population density and degree of urbanization; the number of young people; economic conditions; and family conditions.

Editor's Note: Patch is focusing for the purposes of this piece a year-over-year comparison, as well as a quick look at state versus local numbers for the years noted above. These data in isolation should not be considered a trend."

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