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Alex Cabrero ReportingWe all think of Utah as a relatively safe place to live. But the FBI says violent crime in Utah is happening more often.
Of course, as our population increases, you're going to see more crime, but here's the part that's harder to explain, violent crimes in our country have gone down, while in Provo, Salt Lake City, and West Valley, they've gone up.
“Tano”, Violent Crimes Victim: “I had gotten a phone call and the phone call said the guy was gonna chop me up into little pieces and send me back to my mother.”
We can't tell you this man’s real name, but it doesn't matter, violent crime doesn't have a face either.
"Lorraine", Violent Crimes Victim: “My family is still in a lot of danger.”
Same goes for Lorraine, who lives everyday of her life wondering if the man who's currently in jail will ever come back.
Lorrain: “I worry a lot. My kids are very scared, my family is very scared.”
Fortunately there is help.
Rachelle Hill, West Valley Victims Services: “There’s a lot of innocent victims out there that didn’t ask for this to be done.”
Rachelle Hill is in charge of West Valley's victims’ services, a six-team group dedicated to helping those who never thought they'd be victims.
Rachelle Hill: "None of us think of this as a job. We're not here just to collect paychecks. All of us really care about people and crime victims in general because we know it's not their fault."
And the way the FBI sees things, violent crimes are going up. Its report says in 2003 violent crimes went up in Provo 27-percent. In Salt Lake City almost two and a half percent, and one and a half percent in West Valley. Those are the only three cities listed for Utah, but overall for the country, violent crimes are down almost two-percent.
“Lorraine”: “It is getting bad here.”
With those numbers, these victims are just hoping support groups can handle all the victims. They'd hate to lose their only peace of mind.
“Tano”: “Victims advocacy had upped the patrols in our neighborhood. They were awesome, just really awesome.”
Some good news? Property crimes have gone down in Provo and Salt Lake. Now overall, this FBI report is surprising to some city leaders, but at least it's something they'll take a look at.
