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

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

According to the latest Uniform Crime Reporting statistics (UCR), there were 89 violent crimes reported in Woburn in 2015, compared to 71 violent crimes reported in 2014 representing a 25.3 percent increase. However, the number of total property crimes decreased from 514 in 2014 to 473 in 2015 representing a decrease of just under eight 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): 8 in 2015, 5 in 2014
• Robbery: 12 in 2015, 10 in 2014
• Aggravated Assault: 69 in 2015, 56 in 2014

Here's how Woburn'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. Arson statistics were reported for Woburn, but there were no reported arsons in either year.

• Burglary: 74 in 2015, 62 in 2015
• Larceny/Theft: 367 in 2015, 432 in 2014
• Motor Vehicle Theft: 32 in 2015, 20 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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