Rates slip for crimes of violence, property

Both violent and property crimes declined in 2007 from the previous year, the FBI reported Monday.

In preliminary figures for crimes reported to police, the bureau said the number of violent crimes declined by 1.4 percent from 2006, reversing two years of rising violent crime numbers. Violent crime had climbed 1.9 percent in 2006 and 2.3 percent in 2005, alarming federal and local officials.

Violent crime in Utah's second-largest city — West Valley City — however, jumped more than 23.5 percent between 2006 and 2007, according to the FBI report.

Of the state's three largest cities, West Valley City was the only one to see an overall increase in murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults, according to the annual Uniform Crime Report. West Valley police handled 479 violent crimes in 2006 and 592 the following year.

During the same time, Provo's violent crimes dropped from 181 to 166, while violent crimes decreased by less than 1 percent in Salt Lake City — from 1,504 to 1,493.

In Salt Lake City, a law enforcement official said a renewed focus on community policing appeared to be showing early results, but he cautioned that numbers don't tell the entire story.

"Any time there's a drastic change, either higher or lower, it helps us understand what programs may be working well, or maybe aren't working well," said Salt Lake police detective Jeff Bedard. "The numbers help us in a broader sense of where trends are going, but we try not to get lost in that."

As a snapshot, Bedard said such numbers can also be deceiving. Salt Lake's murder rate doubled from eight to 16. That increase can be blamed, in part, on the Trolley Square shootings that left five people dead, Bedard said.

Property crimes in Utah's three largest cities increased 4 percent, according to the federal report. In Salt Lake City, crimes such as burglary and theft dropped by about 1.7 percent, while Provo and West Valley City saw increases of 11 and 16 percent, respectively.

Property crimes across the country were down 2.1 percent last year, the largest drop in the last four years.

The largest declines were in vehicle theft, down 8.9 percent and in rape, down 4.3 percent and murder, down 2.7 percent.