Crime in Connecticut is down to its lowest point since 1967, and the state has the largest reduction in violent crime in any state over the last four years, according to new statistics from the FBI.
The governor's office said that reported violent crime in Connecticut has declined an overall 20 percent since 2011, though there was a slight increase of 2.6 percent between 2015 to 2016.
Murders fell 32 percent year to year, with 116 in 2016 and 78 in 2016. This is the lowest number in the state since 1969. The number of shootings did increase in the three major cities of Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven, though the majority were not fatal.
Reported rapes declined by 4.4 percent.
The report noted that the number of homicides in 2015 was artificially inflated due to the bodies of victims of older crimes being discovered that year. Six bodies were found in New Britain, one in Hartford and one in Bridgeport.
Nationally, violent crime numbers rose 2.6 percent from 2012 through 2016, though Connecticut’s neighboring states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York all saw decreases in overall rates. The Northeast saw the lowest crime rates of any region in the country in 2016, and Connecticut had the fifth lowest violent crime rate in the nation in 2016.
Local
The overall crime rate in Connecticut has declined 18 percent from 2011 to 2016.
To read the Connecticut report click here.
For the original FBI report click here.
