SALT LAKE CITY—With 49 homicides in 2012, Utah’s position of having one of the lowest murder rates in the country remains intact.
The statewide total is down slightly from the previous year, when 52 homicides were recorded, according to a tally kept by the Salt Lake Tribune. There were 45 murders in 2010 and 43 in 2009.
The Tribune’s totals exclude people killed by police in incidents found to be justified use of force.
FBI crime reports show Utah’s murder rate has been among the lowest in the country for years.
The FBI’s state-by-state comparison of homicides for 2012 won’t be available for months, but the Utah 2011 rate of 1.9 murders per 100,000 people was the seventh-lowest in the country.
It also was much lower than rates in neighboring states of Colorado (2.9), Nevada (5.2), Arizona (6.2) and New Mexico (7.5).
Among states with similar populations, between 2 million and 3 million, Utah had the second-lowest murder rate in 2011 behind only Iowa. Kansas, which has about 2.8 million people like Utah, had a murder rate in 2011 of 3.8 per 100,000 people.
Utah’s statewide total is much lower than some large cities in the United States. Chicago police say the city finished 2012 with 506 homicides. Kansas City, Mo., logged 108 murders in 2012.
It’s difficult to know exactly why there are fewer murders in Utah than other states, but Salt Lake police detective Mike Hamideh said it helps that residents frequently provide tips to authorities. Anytime a drug house pops up in a neighborhood, for instance, Salt Lake City police get a tip.
“Solving the small crimes will avert big crimes down the road,” Hamideh said.
The average age of Utah’s homicide victims in 2012 was 36, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Men outnumbered women 2-1 among the victims.
The most common causes of the homicides in 2012 were shootings (60 percent) and stabbings (25 percent), the newspaper reported. The others were beaten or died other ways.
The first murder victim of 2012, Ogden police officer Jared Francom, also was the only active-duty police officer killed last year. Francom was shot Jan. 4 during a drug raid.
The 18 murders in domestic violence incidents marked a decreased from the previous year, when 24 such cases were recorded, the Tribune reported.
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Online: Salt Lake Tribune:
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune,
