FBI: Violent crime up in Colorado Springs, down in Pueblo
If you’ve felt like you’ve seen more reports of violent crime in Colorado Springs lately, you’re not wrong – according to new data from the FBI, violent crime in the Springs went up by about 15 percent last year.
Meanwhile, violent crime in Pueblo has decreased slightly.
The bureau’s semi-annual uniform crime report compares crime statistics for cities with populations over 100,000 from January to June of 2016 and 2017. They classify violent crime as murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
According to the report, the number of violent crimes committed in the Springs went from 1,113 in the first six months of 2016 to 1,280 in the same time period for 2017.
Pueblo saw its number of violent crimes drop from 545 in the first half of 2016 to 538 in 2017. However, the city still boasts the worst violent crime rate per capita in the state, at one violent crime per 204 people.
The Springs’ violent crime increase is higher than Denver’s and Aurora’s, which saw increases of 9.7 and 6.8 percent, respectively. Fort Collins saw a violent crime increase of 24 percent, but it’s still the second-safest Colorado city on the FBI’s list, with only one violent crime per 935 people.
Colorado Springs is the only Colorado city on the list to have an increase in all categories of violent crime.
The number of murders doubled in the Springs, from 8 to 15 in the first six months of the year. Rapes also went up from 239 to 270 in 2017; robberies increased slightly from 210 to 221; and there were about 100 more aggravated assaults, going from 656 in the first half of 2016 to 774 in the first half of 2017.
The good news is that almost every city on the list saw a drop in property crimes. Property crimes were defined by the FBI as burglaries, thefts, motor vehicle thefts, and arsons.
Property crimes in the Springs dropped by about 10 percent from 7,816 to 7,085 while Pueblo saw a drop of about seven percent, from 3,484 to 3,243.
Lt. Howard Black with the Colorado Springs Police Department said there isn’t an area for the department to target specifically, saying the increases have been across the city.
You can see the uniform crime report here.
