Crime Rate Up In Texas As Officer-To-Residents Ratio Drops: FBI

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The crime rate in Texas increased slightly in 2017 as part of a two-year trend as the ratio of police officers to the total population decreased to its lowest level in years, according to FBI data released this week.

The FBI's annual compilation of crime statistics released Tuesday revealed there to be 1.5 officers per 1,000 population in Texas last year, down from two officers for every 1,000 residents in 2016. For the last ten years or so, the ratio of cops to residents has been at least two per 1,000.

Yet the ratio drop isn't unique to Texas, according to the report's findings. Nationally, the ratio dropped from 2.4 officers per 1,000 residents in 2016 to two per 1,000 last year, according to the report. Still, the Texas dip makes the officer-to-population ratio one of the nation's lowest. Just seven states — Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming — had lower ratios in 2017.

Amid that lowered police-to-population ratio, the violent crime rate in Texas increased to 438.9 incidents per 100,000 population from 433.8 incidents per 100,000 for the previous comparable period, the report found. Nationally, the violent crime rate decreased a tad, from 397.5 to 394 incidents per 100,000 population.

Pie graphs via FBI shows national crime rates

To read the full FBI report, click here. To see crime statistics per metropolitan statistical area, click here.

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