Everyone wants a sense of security and the peace of mind that their community is safe. However, this ideal scenario is not always the case in reality. Many Americans find themselves living in a neighborhood that has crime rates higher than the national average and growing. Residents of Arizona have seen a growing trend in the rate of crime offenses by population, a rate that is higher than the national average. This is why it is important for residents to stay up-to-date with crime statistics as well as understand just what the specific crime rates and trends are for the state of Arizona.
What Is Included In Violent Crime?
Not all crime is the same. Commonly, crime is grouped into a few major categories. While all crime is bad, often the crime that would affect a resident the most would be a violent crime. When tracking crime rates, violent crimes are often the category that is used. Types of violent crimes include:
- Murder
- Manslaughter
- Assault
- Sex Assault
- Arson
- Robbery
- Domestic Violence
- Child Abuse
- Kidnapping & Abduction
- Terrorist or Violent Threats
- Hate Crimes
- And more…
An Increase In Violent Crime for Arizona
Violent crime rates across the United States have risen in recent years, however, the state of Arizona saw violent crime rates that rose faster and remained higher than the national average. According to the FBI’s Crime Data, the national average violent crime rate rose 4.6% in the United States from 2019 to 2020. In 2020, the national rate was 398.5 violent crimes per 100,000 people. In comparison, Arizona saw its violent crime rise at a rate of 8.6% over the same time or 484.8 per 100,000 people.
This isn’t the first time that the state of Arizona has had a higher trend of violent crimes compared to the national average. For the past decade, Arizona’s violent crime rate has been consistently higher than the national average. In the last decade, Arizona’s crime rate saw its peak in 2017 with 505.7 violent crimes per 100,000 people but recent trends indicate that the state’s crime rate is trending back in that direction.
A Breakdown of 2022 AZ Crime Rates
The Arizona Department of Public Safety’s most recent crime report breaks down the violent crimes by category. There were 28,777 violent crimes reported in 2020. Aggravated assault accounted for the largest incidence of violent crimes with 19,751 offenses (11.97%) while Human Trafficking accounted for the smallest with 26 offenses (0.01%). Other notable crime totals included:
- Murder/Non-negligent Manslaughter- 423 offenses
- Sexual Assault- 2,838 offenses
- Arson- 1,074 offenses
- Robbery- 5,739 offenses
Growing Rates Promote The VICTIM Act
The recent rise in crime rates has not gone unnoticed. Lawmakers across the state have called for action to make lowering Arizona’s crime rate a priority. The Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods Act, more commonly known as the VICTIM Act, is a bill created by Rep. Val Demings (FL-10) that aims to hire, train, and retain detectives and victim services personnel to improve the clearance rate of violent crimes. Many local lawmakers are pushing for bipartisan of the VICTIM Act.
For the state of Arizona, the VICTIM Act would require the justice department to manage a grant program that would allow local police departments to hire police officers in roles like homicide detectives in an attempt to curb the growing crime rates that the state has been seeing. What sets the VICTIM Act apart from other crime bills is its focus on the needs of the victims and their families. Officers would be trained and funding would be allocated in areas specific to serving needs like relocation, counseling, funeral expenses, lost wages, and more.
How To Check Crime Rate in Arizona
As crime rates ebb and flow, it is important to make sure that you are staying up-to-date with the newest information that is available. Here are some of the tools that you can use to make sure that you have access to the latest crime data in your local area.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer- The FBI crime data explorer is the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s crime database that compiles the data sent by police agencies all across the country. The FBI crime data explorer’s reports are broken down on a national and state level.
- AreaVibes- This is a website that looks to provide an overlook of the general livability of a specific city in the United States and Canada. AreaVibes takes into account more than just crime rates to deliver its livability score. Things like the cost of living, housing, school, and more are taken into account.
- The Neighbors App- The Neighbors App is a great resource to use if you are looking for more information about your specific neighborhood. With the Neighbors App, users are connected with other members of their community to form an online watch group that aims to improve public safety.
- Family Watchdog- Family Watchdog is an online website that displays the location of registered sex offenders in a specific location on its crime maps. Users can enter their home address, an address that they are thinking of moving to, or their child’s school. Family Watchdog will then display an interactive map that pinpoints any nearby registered sex offenders.
- CityProtect- CityProtect is a crime database that offers a more specific breakdown of crime trends in your neighborhood. While the FBI Crime Data Explorer pulls data from more agencies, CityProtect offers insights into specific cities and areas.
- SpotCrime- SpotCrime is a crime data aggregator that maps crime incidents, and creates a crime rate map by plotting them on Google maps. It then delivers crime updates to users via email and social media. SpotCrime is a very user-friendly interface and the alert function makes it easy to stay current on what is happening around you.
Want To Learn More?
We here at Antol & Sherman, PC, have a combined experience of over 60 years practicing law in northern Arizona and are a resource for all things law. Our lawyers stay up-to-date on important topics like the rising crime rate in the state of Arizona to best serve the members of our community. Our blog is a helpful resource if you are looking for useful and timely information about relevant legal topics.
At Antol & Sherman, PC, a hallmark of our Flagstaff law firm is personalized, individual treatment of every client, regardless of the criminal offense. If you or someone you love require experienced, understanding and professional legal services do not hesitate to contact us today.
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