Crime in Tacoma

The Washington State Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs released its Crime in Washington 2011 Annual Report a couple weeks ago, and the big headline for Tacoma is that our crime rates are down from 2010 for both violent and property crimes. We reported recently that Tacoma made number 12 on the list of most peaceful cities in the country, and we wanted to mention these stats too, but we honestly weren’t really sure what to say.

You could go with the headline that Tacoma is becoming a safer place, and the numbers would support that assertion.

From 2010 to 2011

 
• Tacoma’s crime index (total number of crimes reported) is down from 14,380 to 13,643

 
• Tacoma’s crime rate (the number of crimes per 1,000 people) is also down for both property and violent crimes.

 
• Drop from 70.4 crimes per 1,000 in 2010 to 68.6 in 2011

 
• Violent crime was down 8.3 to 7.6

 
• Property crime was also down slightly 62.1 to 61.0

It is tempting to draw conclusions that crime is going down, but, as the report warns, it’s important not to make too much out of the stats.

Individuals using the tabulations in the Crime in Washington 2011 are cautioned against drawing conclusions by making direct comparisons between cities and/or counties due to the existence of numerous factors which affect the amount and type of crime from place to place. It’s important to remember crime is a social problem and, therefore, a concern of the entire community. The efforts of law enforcement are limited to factors within its control.

If you like to geek out on numbers, graphs, pie charts, and that sort of thing, you can check out the whole report (as a pdf) at www.waspc.org. If you’re curious about the difference between crime index and crime rate, and how each is calculated…

Crime Index
The crime index is a basic measure of crime which can be used for comparing the extent of crime among cities, counties, and states of similar size.

The index is simply the total number of certain offenses (Murder, Forcible Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Larceny-Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Arson) that occur in a given area in a given calendar period.

Crime Rate
The crime rate is based on the index, but adjusts the index for variances in population by indicating the number of index offenses for each 1,000 persons. This means that comparisons may be made among several areas with different populations or within one area with different populations over a period of time, without the information being biased by population differences. For most general comparisons, the crime rate is probably the most accurate to use.

To calculate the crime rate, first divide the population of the area by 1,000, and divide the crime index by that answer. For example, if a city has a population of 198,900 and a violent crime index of 13,643 the calculations would be:

 
1. 198,900 divided by 1,000 = 198.9

 
2. 13,643 divided by 198.9 = 68.6 total crime rate

Thus, although the city’s crime index is 1,503, its crime rate (the number of crimes for each 1,000 people) is 7.6. How’s that for some practical math?

So, do these numbers tell us anything? Do you care as a resident, or is this simply the kind of information you read and forget about (maybe until you’re trying to sell your house…)?

Previously from Exit133: Tacoma Ranked 12th Most Peaceful City in the US.