2017 Crime Report: Colorado Springs experienced increase in violent crime

If you thought 2017 was a violent year in Colorado Springs, you were right. New crime statistics put together by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation were released Monday.

While the overall amount of crime is down in Colorado Springs, the number of violent crimes like murder are up. The report says in 2017, there were 29 murders. That’s a 53 percent increase from 2016 where there were 19 murders. Compared to the rest of Colorado, it makes up for 13 percent of the total number of homicides.

The two types of crimes that impacted the most people were DUI’s and motor vehicle thefts. Both increased for the year 2017. Nearly 3,000 people were caught driving under the influence in Colorado Springs, that’s a 13 percent increase from 2016.

Car thefts saw a slight uptick as well. In total, 2,196 cars were stolen — that’s about six cars a day.

There were some decreases in violent crime. Rape and assaults went down compared to 2016, however, we are also looking into how many of these cases have been solved.

Out of the 29 murders, 26 have been solved, but there have only been 23 arrests. While rape is down, 181 of those cases have yet to be solved.

We asked to speak to the Colorado Springs Police Department about the numbers done by CBI, but they say they need more time to look over the statistics.

A spokesperson says they should have more information on Wednesday.