Violent-crime numbers have dropped in Denver from last year, but they climbed in Colorado Springs, Aurora and Lakewood, the FBI reported today.
The bureau’s preliminary Uniform Crime Report for the first six months of 2006 tallied 2,191 violent crimes in Denver, down from 2,269 from the same period in 2005.
The report – which analyzes crime in U.S. cities with 100,000 or more residents, including seven Colorado cities – also said violent-crime rates dropped in Pueblo, Thornton and Westminster.
In a comparison of the first six months of the two years, violent crime dropped in Pueblo from 332 to 288, in Thornton from 186 to 181, and in Westminster from 150 to 133, the FBI reported.
But the FBI said violent-crime numbers were up in Colorado Springs, Aurora and Lakewood.
Colorado Springs scored the sharpest increase, from 798 in the first six months of 2005 to 1,047 in the same period of 2006.
At the same time, violent crime climbed in Aurora from 902 to 936, and in Lakewood from 314 to 355.
The report defined violent crime as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Much of the sharp violent-crime increase in Colorado Springs was due to steep climbs in the numbers of robberies (185 to 300) and aggravated assaults (479 to 602). The city also experienced slight increases in rape (128 to 128) and murder (six to seven), the FBI said.
The report said Denver saw a steep drop in robberies (786 to 655) that outweighed slight increases in murders (21 to 23), rapes (162 to 166) and aggravated assaults (1,302 to 1,347).
The FBI said murders dropped from the first six months of 2005 to the same months of 2006 in Aurora, Lakewood and Pueblo, but climbed in Colorado Springs, Denver, Thornton and Westminster.
It said rapes dropped during those periods in Aurora, Lakewood and Pueblo but climbed in Colorado Springs, Denver, Thornton and Westminster.
As for non-violent “property crimes,” the FBI said numbers dropped in all of the seven Colorado cities it surveyed except Thornton, where numbers climbed slightly from 2,331 to 2,441.
The FBI defined property crimes as burglary, larceny-theft and motor-vehicle theft.
Property climbs decreased sharply in Denver, from 16,878 the first six months of 2005 to 13,372 the same months of this year.
Figures for 2005 in Arvada were not available, the FBI said, but it tallied 86 violent crimes there in 2006 and 1,545 property crimes.
The FBI did not include statewide Colorado figures or statistics for smaller cities in its report.
