FBI: Violent crime increased in Ohio, nation in 2015

After years of gradual declines, violent crime rates increased in 2015 nationally and in Ohio — and by a significant amount in the city of Dayton and the broader region.

Violent crime increased by more than 12 percent in the Dayton metro area, which includes Montgomery, Miami and Greene counties, according to the annual Crime in the United States report, released Monday by the FBI.

That same violent crime rate was up by 10 percent in the city of Dayton, up 3.9 percent nationwide and 2.3 percent for the state of Ohio. By the FBI definition, violent crime includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, with those last two categories accounting for 91 percent of total incidents.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, speaking in Arkansas, said Monday that the new data show that “we still have so much work to do.” But she also noted that crime in many communities has remained stable or decreased.

“And it is important to remember that while crime did increase overall last year, 2015 still represented the third-lowest year for violent crime in the past two decades,” Lynch said.

While violent crime was up on a widespread basis in 2015, property crime was down widely, according to the FBI. Property crime, which includes burglary, larceny/theft, and motor vehicle theft, declined 2.6 percent nationwide, 7.0 percent in Ohio and 9.4 percent in Dayton.

Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl cautioned against putting too much emphasis on any one year’s data. For example, he said 2016 year-to-date statistics for Dayton are the reverse of 2015, with violent crime down about 5 percent this year and property crime up 4 percent.

“Because of the data shifting significantly the past couple years, with lots of fluctuations, I don’t think anyone can tell you decisively … where public safety is going,” Biehl said, calling the data “a mixed picture.”

Biehl said growing drug addiction issues have driven some crime the past few years — mostly property crime at first, but more violent crime lately. He encouraged people to look at the bigger picture.

“The long-term trend is an overall significant decline in violent crime and gun crime (in Dayton),” Biehl said, while acknowledging a homicide increase this year. “From 2010 through the end of 2015 there was a 22 percent reduction in gun crime. In the long haul, it’s become increasingly a safer city.”

Ohio Department of Public Safety Director John Born emphasized that at the state level, Ohio compared well. Its violent crime increase was smaller than that of the United States as a whole, and its property crime decrease was larger.

“It is a good sign Ohio is faring better than the national average,” Born said. “But there is always more work to be done to create a safer Ohio.”

While state and national trends are important, crime is very much a local issue, with rates varying dramatically from city to city, and even neighborhood to neighborhood.

“For most people, they have very little exposure to crime, but when you have it concentrated in your area in a short period of time, that has a real impact on people’s perceived and actual safety,” Biehl said.

Kettering had an instance of that this summer, as one quiet neighborhood had a SWAT drug bust, a homicide and two suspicious car fires in the span of a few weeks. Residents naturally expressed concern about a crime spike, while police chief Chip Protsman pointed to multi-year data showing that the city’s violent crime rate actually was down from previous years.

The FBI argues against using its crime data for rankings of communities, but some patterns are obvious from the Ohio statistics. The highest violent crime rates for 2015 were in larger cities such as Toledo, Canton, Dayton and Cincinnati, with about one violent crime for every 100 residents.

Several mid-sized suburbs, including Troy, Xenia and West Carrollton, had about one violent crime for every 450 residents. Tiny Brookville had one violent crime for every 2,000 residents, and Bellbrook, a city of 7,000 people, had one such crime all year in a 2015 (a robbery).

Biehl said police have responsibilities to respond promptly, analyze crime patterns, police hot spots, and communicate to worried residents when there’s a key arrest. But he also encouraged residents to do their part.

“We continue to promote citizens’ role in public safety,” Biehl said. “Public safety has always been a civic duty and always will be. It’s not just sitting back and saying that’s what the police officers are for. … We all have a responsibility in a democracy.”

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