The Eureka Police Department today released the total number of crimes committed within the city’s jurisdiction, or at least the number that the department became aware of.

To take the good news first: Despite the very high number of homicides committed within the city limits in 2014, violent crime in total appears to be way down. Aggravated assault — by far the most popular subcategory of what the Federal Bureau of Investigation calls “violent crime” — was only half what it was in 2013.

As for the bad news: Property crime — particularly burglary — continued to climb.

Earlier today, EPD Chief Andy Mills told the Outpost that he is confident in the statistics. The categories of crime are defined by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports program, and they are not very flexible. If an officer responds to a call and the details of the incident match the parameters laid out by the FBI, then it will be counted among the total. Those parameters change very little from year to year.

So violent crime is down in Eureka. But Mills told the Outpost that there is a discussion within the law enforcement community about whether the FBI is tracking the right numbers. The FBI looks at four separate categories of crime — murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — to come to arrive at its “violent crime” number. Three others — burglary, larceny and auto theft — make up “property crime.” Nowhere in the FBI’s numbers do you find data on child abuse, fraud, vandalism, drug trafficking, or any of a number of other offenses.

Mills said that he was among those who think that the FBI should expand the types of crime that make up its index. “A child being sexually assaulted by an adult?” he said. “To me, it’s still rape.”

The following charts show the number of crimes reported to the Eureka Police Department per 100,000 population. The 2014 raw crime numbers were released by the Eureka Police Department this morning (see below). The 2014 population estimate for the city of Eureka is from the California Department of Finance. Previous years from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.

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From the Eureka Police Department:

The Eureka Police Department’s fourth quarter crime totals for 2014 have been recorded. 143 violent crime reports were taken in 2014 compared to 185 in 2013, showing a 23% decrease. Murder, rape, and robbery saw increases while assaults with a deadly weapon dropped significantly.

Property crime had a 4% increase in 2014 compared to 2013, mostly due to a large number of daytime residential burglaries. EPD noticed the spike in residential burglaries during the third quarter and it continues to be a primary focus. Community awareness has improved and recently several diligent neighbors have called in suspicious activity, leading to arrests and recovered property.

Overall there was a 2% increase in crime compared to 2013. The Eureka Police Department will continue to monitor crime stats and provide reports on a quarterly basis.

Below is a table showing the 2013 and 2014 comparisons.

 

2014

2013

Difference

Murder

5

2

3

Rape

20

17

3

Total Robbery

67

66

1

Armed

34

33

1

Strong Arm

33

33

0

Assault DW

51

100

-49

Burglary

476

397

79

Theft

1531

1505

26

Vehicle Theft

168

181

-13

Totals

2,318

2,268

50

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