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

SALEM, 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 Salem, but the number of property crimes increased in 2015.

According to the latest Uniform Crime Reporting statistics (UCR), there were 125 violent crimes reported in Salem in 2015, compared to 154 violent crimes reported in 2014 representing a 18.8 percent decrease. However, the number of total property crimes increased from 1,157 in 2014 to 1,303 in 2015 representing a increase of 12.6 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.

• Murder and non-negligent manslaughter: 1 in 2015, 0 in 2014
• Rape(revised definition): 7 in 2015, 8 in 2014
• Robbery: 23 in 2015, 26 in 2014
• Aggravated Assault: 94 in 2015, 120 in 2014

Here's how Salem'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: 171 in 2015, 103 in 2014
• Larceny/Theft: 1,080 in 2015, 1,019 in 2014
• Motor Vehicle Theft: 52 in 2015, 35 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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