Seattle Violent Crimes Increased in 2017, Property Crimes Fell

SEATTLE, WA - There were more rapes, murders, and aggravated assaults in Seattle in 2017 than in the previous two years, according to newly released Seattle police data. However, property crimes like car theft, larceny, and robbery decreased.

Seattle ended 2017 with 27 murders, the highest since 2008. Rapes reached a nine-year high at 231, although that's just one incident higher than 2016. Last year also had the most arson fires dating back to 2009.

The rate of rapes per 100,000 people in Seattle was slightly higher than the U.S. average. In 2016, the U.S. average was 99 per 100,000 people, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). In Seattle in 2017, the rate was about 103 per 100,000. Nearly every police precinct had at least one sexual assault reported in 2017, but a few neighborhoods had higher concentrations:

• First Hill (East Precinct) - 21
• Downtown (West Precinct) - 17
• Northgate (North Precinct) - 17
• Capitol Hill (East Precinct) - 13
• University District (North Precinct) - 12
• South Lake Union (West Precinct) - 12
• Greenwood (North Precinct) - 10

Assaults increased overall in Seattle in 2017 aided by a jump in domestic violence incidents. Total domestic violence incidents increased about 25 percent from 2015, from 577 incidents to 722.

Seattle police crime analysts could not find a pattern to explain the domestic violence increase, but an SPD blog post said, "some of the increases in assaults may be tied to incidents involving individuals in crisis and nightlife, as well as shoplifts at downtown businesses escalating into assaults."

Police had success in 2017 reducing property crimes. Robberies dropped to the lowest level since 2012.

"The department saw some successes this year in efforts to combat car prowls (down 5%), auto theft (11%) and residential burglaries (11%). Patrol officers, precinct Anti-Crime Teams and the Major Crimes Taskforce and other detective units worked to identify and arrest prolific offenders," read a department blog post published Tuesday.

Here's how 2017 compares to the previous two years. A number in parenthesis indicates a drop compared to 2016:

Caption: In May 2017, a man exited a car and pointed a pellet gun at two people along Rainier Avenue South while shouting gay epithets at them. Police later arrested a Tacoma man on charges of making felony threats.

File photo courtesy Seattle police