Crime & Safety

Crime in Strongsville is Up, FBI Report Says

Figures for 2011 show increases for most offenses

 

The FBI's annual Uniform Crime Reports show crime in Strongsville increased in 2011 in most categories -- in particular, burglary and theft.

The report shows there were 121 burglaries in Strongsville in 2011, compared with 76 in 2010.

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Larceny/theft complaints also rose from 670 to 786.

The sluggish economy could be playing a role in the trend, although it's difficult to find single reason, officials said.

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"We've experienced more residential burglaries, as did a number of cities in the area," Safety Director Charles Goss told Strongsville Patch earlier this year.

But Goss called the rise "an uptick" compared to a decade or two ago when police were handling more than 200 burglaries a year.  

And he said the poor economy could be spurring more people to shoplift, but said the higher number could also be attributed to more merchants being willing to prosecute shoplifters.

Property crimes rose from 767 in 2010 to 932 last year, according to the report.

Otherwise, the increases were relatively small:

Violent crime: 26 (11 in 2010)

Homicide: 0 (0 in 2010)

Forcible rape: 3 (2 in 2010)

Robbery: 12 (6 in 2010)

Aggravated assault: 11 (3 in 2010)

Motor vehicle theft: 25 (21 in 2010)

Arson: 1 (1 in 2010).

Law enforcement agencies throughout the country report crime figures to the FBI every year.

In the past, police officials have warned the reports should not be used to compare crime among communities because each department categorizes crimes differently.

While one department might call a theft from a garage a simple theft, another might call it a burglary, for example.

The FBI classifications also account for why the figures for some crimes are different in the UCR and in the Strongsville Police Department's annual report.


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