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SALT LAKE CITY -- New FBI crime statistics released Monday show violent crimes are down across the country and here in Utah. But thefts like shoplifting, purse snatching, and car break-ins are up, especially in Salt Lake City.
The report breaks down cities with over 100,000 people, which includes Salt Lake, West Jordan, West Valley and Provo. The preliminary numbers for 2008 indicate murder was down by 4.4 percent nationally, Aggravated assault decreased 3.2, forcible rape was down 2.2 percent and robbery cases dropped by 1 percent.
"This is the first year where we've seen a decrease in crime all four areas, so that is good news," said FBI Special Agent Juan Becerra.
One concern though, all those categories are up in towns with fewer than 10,000 people. Becerra explained, "Criminals are becoming much more smart, and they realize that more pressure is applied in larger cities, and the trend could be that they're going to small town America."
Violent crimes in Salt Lake City also decreased from 1,500 in 2007 to 1,420 last year. West Valley City had two fewer cases last year, dropping their total to 595. Provo's violent crime count jumped 14 cases to 182 in 2008, and West Jordan was up eight at 214 cases.
Becerra with says the increases in Provo and West Jordan aren't too concerning. "The percentage that it did rise was minimal, not something for the public to be alarmed at," he said.
The new data also backs up the Salt Lake City Police Department's Property Crimes Squad has tracked for the last year: a jump in what they call larceny theft. In just a year, the number of property crime cases rose by more than 1,000.
"They're breaking into people's trunks, stealing people's purses left and right," Wooldridge said. "When people come to Salt Lake during the night and enjoy our nightlife, particularly women, they apparently are observing people putting their purses into their trunks, and so forth, because they don't want to bring their purses into the clubs."
Wooldridge says thieves get even more when they hit hotel parking lots. "Personal records, computers, firearms; just about anything you'd think you'd be traveling with if you were moving to another state people are leaving in their vehicles and it's being stolen," he said.
The moral of this story is one we've heard before: Don't leave anything in your car, even if it is locked or in the trunk.
"It just takes mere seconds for them to break into a car. A locked glove box is just a challenge for them. It just, again, takes mere seconds," Wooldridge said.
Theft also increased in West Valley City. There were 241 more cases in 2008 than in 2007.
Wooldridge explains there's more to this trend than thieves breaking into cars. He says they're doing a good job breaking bicycle cables and chains, which means U-shaped bicycle locks are a must. He also suggests you register your bike so if it does get stolen police can track it down.
"One thing we find is very frustrating is that people are not in compliance with city and county ordinance to license their bicycles. And because they're not licensed, they don't record your serial numbers and we have no method for recovering most of the stolen ones," Wooldridge said.
Cottonwood Heights police officers have started tagging cars with valuables left out as a friendly reminder to citizens. Salt Lake City police may start a similar program.
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Story compiled with contributions from Courtney Orton and Nicole Gonzales.
