Berkeley Sees Slight Decrease In Burglaries, Property Crime: FBI

BERKELEY, NJ — New FBI data shows crime decreased in the United States from 2017 to 2018. The FBI recently published its final analysis of "Crime in the United States, 2018," finding 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.

Property crimes in Berkeley decreased, while there was one more violent crime reported than the year before. However, the report is a snapshot of only one year and not necessarily an accurate indicator of each town's 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.

Here's how Berkeley fared:

Berkeley reported 25 violent crimes in 2018, compared to 24 in 2017. Property crimes decreased slightly from 458 to 378 in that span, while burglaries went down from 86 to 68.

2018

• violent crime: 25
• murder/non-negligent manslaughter: 0
• rape: 6
• robbery: 6
• aggravated assault: 13
• property crime: 378
• burglary: 68
• larceny/theft: 300
• motor vehicle theft: 10
• arson: 0

2017

• violent crime: 24
• murder/non-negligent manslaughter: 0
• rape: 7
• robbery: 8
• aggravated assault: 9
• property crime: 458
• burglary: 86
• larceny/theft: 362
• motor vehicle theft: 10
• arson: 2

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 "Crime in the United States, 2018" report was provided by more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies across the country.

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