Lakewood's Crime Rate Lowest In Five Years

LAKEWOOD, WA — The city of Lakewood says crime is down by almost all metrics, including drops in property crime, person crimes and overall crime rate. In particular, the city says the property crime rate and the overall crime rate are the lowest they've been in five years.

According to the city, Lakewood saw crime drop 7 percent over 2019, and the trend continued with the latest data from the first quarter of 2020, which showed crime down another 3.8 percent.

Person crimes, or crimes committed against people like assault and murder, have also reportedly dropped 10.6 percent compared with the first quarter of 2019. Police say its the lowest person crimes have been in the first quarter in the last three years.

"While we like to see the downward trend, we know there is more work to do and we need to remain vigilant to continue reducing crime," Police Chief Mike Zaro said in a press release celebrating the news. "Particularly in the face of drastic social and economic changes."

The city credits the dip in part to the coronavirus pandemic and Gov. Inslee's orders keeping all but essential workers home. The city says from March 23 to April 23 during Inslee's Stay Home, Stay Healthy proclamation, the number of calls to police dropped 16 percent compared with the same time last year.