FBI Releases Crime Statistics for Oregon and Washington

Today, the FBI released its annual Crime in the United States report for American cities. Nationally, the violent crime rate increased slightly—by 0.7 percent—in 2012 compared to 2011. Property crime fell for the 10th year in a row, dropping by 0.9 percent.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program collects data on specific violent crimes (murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and specific property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.) In 2012, five of the seven categories saw decreases nationally; only the number of murders and aggravated assaults increased, and those increases were slight (0.4 percent for each per 100,000 people).

Some highlights from cities with populations of more than 100,000 people in the Pacific Northwest include:

• The rate of violent crime for Oregon’s cities decreased by 0.7 percent (per 100,000 people), and property crime increased 2.3 percent (per 100,000 people) from 2011 to 2012.
• The rate of violent crime for Washington’s cities increased by 0.1 percent (per 100,000 people), and its property crime rate increased by 2.2 percent (per 100,000 people) from 2011 to 2012.
• In Portland, the number of murders/non-negligent manslaughters stayed the same (20 per year), while the numbers of robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, and motor vehicle thefts increased. There were decreases in the numbers of rapes and larceny-thefts from 2011 to 2012.
• In Eugene, there were decreases in the number of rapes, aggravated assaults, and motor vehicle thefts. There were increases in the numbers of robberies, burglaries, and larceny-thefts. There were no murders/non-negligent manslaughters in either 2011 or 2012.
• In Gresham, the number of murders/non-negligent manslaughters increased from one (in 2011) to four (in 2012). Every other category—rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larceny-thefts, and motor vehicle thefts—saw increases as well.
• In Salem, the number of murders/non-negligent manslaughters increased from three (in 2011) to seven (in 2012). There were also increases in every other category: rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larceny-thefts, and motor vehicle thefts.
• In Vancouver, there were decreases in the numbers of murders and non-negligent manslaughter cases (nine in 2011 to five in 2012), rapes, robberies, and larceny-thefts. There were increases in the numbers of aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts.

The breakdown for these cities of populations of 100,000 and more is:

Portland

Eugene

Gresham

Salem

Vancouver

For specific information by state or for smaller cities within Oregon and Washington, please refer to the following links:

• Crime in the U.S. by state
• Oregon: Offenses known to law enforcement by city
• Washington: Offenses known to law enforcement by city

More than 18,000 city, county, state, federal, college/university, and tribal law enforcement agencies voluntarily contribute data to this annual report.

The FBI simply compiles the information as it is provided from local jurisdictions. Media should contact those local jurisdictions for any analysis of the numbers listed above. Also note that the report features a prominent message cautioning against using the statistics to rank cities or counties. Such rankings can lead to simplistic or incomplete analyses, overlooking the many variables impacting crime and its reporting.

The FBI has been producing the Uniform Crime Report since 1930.

View the entire report: Crime in the United States, 2012