Like the rest of the country, Vancouver saw more reports of violent crime in the first six months of 2015 than in that period the year prior. But the growth was much faster than the U.S. rate.
January to June 2015 saw 49 more reports of violent crime in Vancouver than the first six months of 2014, up 18 percent to 318 from 269 violent crime reports. The national count grew by 1.7 percent.
During the first six months of 2014, police in Vancouver received 2,625 property crime reports, and in 2015, that number grew to 2,673 — an increase of 1.86 percent.
The FBI, in its periodic “Crime in the United States” report, drew the data from reports made to law enforcement. The agency released early data only for cities with populations of more than 100,000.
Crimes were up throughout the West, according to the preliminary figures. Reports of violent crime were up 5.6 percent and property crime by 2.4 percent.
In Seattle, violent crime reports increased by less than 1 percent, but reports of property crime were down 12.5 percent. Statistics for Portland were not part of the report.
Rates per person
The FBI’s report did not take population into account.
Vancouver saw the second-most growth of any city in the state from 2014 to 2015, according to the state Office of Financial Management, and Seattle grew the most.
Using the state’s April 1 population estimates, Vancouver’s rate of reports of violent crimes increased 15 percent, from 161 per 100,000 residents to 185, between the two six-month periods tracked by the FBI. In Seattle, the rate per 100,000 was almost steady, increasing from 294 to 296.
Property crime reports in Vancouver declined from 1,568 per 100,000 people to 1,515 between the two time periods. In Seattle, the rate dropped from 3,086 to 2,705 reports per 100,000.
The state’s population numbers may differ from the U.S. Census Bureau numbers the FBI often uses.
There are other caveats to the information as well, such as the fact that not all crimes are reported to police, so the FBI’s numbers don’t necessarily include all crimes committed.
And, as always, the agency cautioned users against reading too far into the numbers, especially to compare places, considering how every jurisdiction is different.
