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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 18, 2005 Region’s crime decreased last year By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune Mirroring a national trend, violent crime decreased slightly in Southern Oregon and property crimes fell by more than 3 percent between 2003 and 2004, according to figures from a new FBI report. Overall, the number of violent crimes dropped by less than 1 percent — from 389 to 386 — in four regional cities of population 10,000 or more. During the same period, the volume of property crimes fell from 7,497 to 7,248, according to "Crime in the United States 2004," released Monday. "This is a pretty safe place to be," said Medford Police Lt. Tim George. "The good news is, if you’re looking at incidents of violent crime, our rate is less than one percent per population." Indeed, local figures buried deep in the thick national report offered insight into crime in Ashland, Central Point, Grants Pass and Medford. In Medford, the number of violent crimes fell from 299 to 288 between 2003 and 2004 — a rate of about .42 percent per capita. Advertisement The violent crime category includes murder and non-negligent homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Murders recorded in Medford fell from four to none, forcible rapes dropped from 29 to 21, robberies rose from 35 to 38 and aggravated assaults fell from 231 to 229. Ashland also recorded a drop from 34 to 20 overall violent crimes, spurred by declines in robberies from 10 to 3 and aggravated assaults from 15 to 6. The city recorded two murders in 2004, however, up from none the previous year, and reported nine rapes in both years. Central Point’s number of violent crimes rose from 4 to 10, boosted by an increase in the number of forcible rapes — from none to 4 — between 2003 and 2004. In Grants Pass, the total violent crimes rose from 52 to 68. Nationwide, the number of violent offenses fell by 1.2 percent while the rate of violent crimes per 100,000 population dropped by 2.2 percent. In Oregon overall, the number of violent crimes was up by 2.1 percent, while the state’s rate per 100,000 people rose by 1.2 percent. Property crimes — burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson — dropped by 3.3 percent overall in the region between 2003 and 2004. George theorized that a rise in crimes of fraud and identity theft have spurred a corresponding decrease in physical intrusions. "It’s easier to do Internet fraud and credit card fraud than it is to break into a car or steal a lawn mower and sell it for $30," he said. "They hit more pay dirt that way." The decrease in property crimes comes despite an overall increase in burglaries from 904 to 1,044, a 15.6 percent increase, sparked by a rise in the number of Ashland burglaries — 98 to 150 — and Grants Pass burglaries — 226 to 264. In Central Point, the number of burglaries fell from 96 to 79, while in Medford, the number jumped from 484 to 551. Motor vehicle thefts spiked in Ashland, rising from 30 to 55 between 2003 and 2004. In Central Point, they dropped from 36 to 18, while in Grants Pass they fell from 159 to 130. In Medford, the number remained the same at 257. The number of arsons fell overall from 97 to 78 between 2003 and 2004. George said that that, ironically, can be read as a sign of an improving economy. When times are tough, some people resort to arson in an attempt to collect insurance benefits. George credited a combination of citizen vigilance and increased law enforcement effort. "I would think that we don’t get credit when things don’t happen," George said. "How do you measure success?" Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail Region�s crime decreased last year ">[email protected] . National crime statistics: The first decline in four years in the U.S. murder rate is very good news for some cities but does not mark a return to the large national crime declines of the 1990s, experts say. Troubling signs in some cities — more gang violence, for example — were not enough to push national crime figures up in the annual FBI compilation of crimes reported to the police. Instead the FBI reported Monday that the murder rate in 2004 dropped to its lowest level in 40 years. The rates for all seven major crimes were down and the overall violent crime rate reached a 30-year low, according to the FBI. There were 391 fewer murders nationwide in 2004 than the year before, the FBI said. Last year’s total of 16,137 works out to 5.5 murders for every 100,000 people. That’s a decline of 3.3 percent from 2003 and the lowest murder rate since 1965, when it was 5.1 percent. "The declines are relatively small compared to larger, steady drops in the 1990s, and the results are by no means the same across the country," said Professor Alfred Blumstein of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He said Chicago with a decline of 150 murders and Washington, D.C., with a decline of 50 account for 51 percent of the net nationwide drop. St. Louis, however, saw an increase of 39 murders. Of 19 large cities with more than 100 murders apiece in 2003, 13 saw declines in 2004 but six recorded increases, Blumstein said. "Most of these changes result from local conditions or random variation," said Professor James Alan Fox of Northeastern University in Boston. The fastest growing population segment is still those over age 50, who commit few violent crimes, so that should produce some decline in murder, but "it’s not a rosy picture all around the country. "It would be easy to look at these numbers and get too complacent about crime," Fox said. "That would be a mistake." The four major violent crimes — murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assaults — declined from 1.38 million in 2003 to 1.37 million in 2004. That produced a 2.2 percent drop in the violent crime rate to 465.5 crimes per 100,000 people — the lowest since 1974, when it was 461.1 violent crimes per 100,000. The three major property crimes — burglary, auto theft and larceny-theft — declined from 10.42 million to 10.33 million in 2004. That pulled the property crime rate down 2.1 percent to 3,517.1 crimes per 100,000 people. These crimes produced an estimated loss of $16.1 billion, down 5 percent from 2003. On the Net: Crime in the United States 2004: www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/documents/CIUS2004.pdf Crime statistics for cities with populations above 10,000: wid.ap.org/documents/fbi/ucr2004citylist.pdf Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. 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