FBI 2019 Crime Report: See Trends In Woburn And Massachusetts

WOBURN, MA — Violent crimes and property crime both increased in Woburn last year, according to data released by the FBI in its 2019 uniform crime report. Statewide, both violent and property crime fell, for the ninth consecutive year.

In Massachusetts, the FBI estimated crime statistics based on reports from 365 of the state’s 422 law enforcement agencies.

The data shows violent crime went down in Massachusetts from 2018 to 2019, from 340.3 offense per hundred thousand people to 327.6. Property crime went down as well, from 1273.6 to 1179.8.

Woburn reported more violent crime incidents, 55, in 2019 than in 2018, when it reported 42. The number of property crime incidents rose from 400 to 422. Most of the town's property crimes, over 300, were thefts.

Woburn Police Chief Robert Rufo pointed to rising population as a significant factor in the city's crime trends. He also noted that property crimes like theft often fluctuate year to year, with individual people or groups accounting for large numbers of incidents.

In those cases, if the person responsible is caught, the number of thefts can fall significantly for a time.

Rufo said that many communities will likely see increased calls related to mental health, substance use and domestic violence, this year. There may also be increases in property crimes, due to the economic effects of the pandemic, but the department has not analyzed the trends, yet.

Nationwide, the FBI reported a decrease in both violent and property crime from year to year. Violent crime went from a rate of 383.4 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 379.4 a year later, a decrease of about 0.5 percent. It's the third straight year violent crime decreased nationally, the FBI said.

Property crime numbers with the same control went from 2,209.8 to 2,109.9. There’s been a downward trend nationwide in this category since 2009, with a decrease of 4.1 percent from 2018 to 2019.

Violent crimes are labeled as homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property crimes are listed as arson, burglary, larceny theft and motor vehicle theft.

The nationwide downward crime trends continued into 2020, according to an overview of numbers from the first half of the year the FBI released a few weeks ago. But two subcategories in particular, murder and arson, have seen a significant increase in the six months that include the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Murder and non-negligent manslaughter cases reported to the FBI by the 16,554 agencies that submitted last year’s data increased by 14.8 percent from the first half of 2019 to the same period in 2020. Arson increased by an even greater rate — 19.2 percent, the FBI said.

The FBI has issued a caution about the crime data coming in at the local levels.

Lists comparing cities and counties "do not provide insight into the numerous variables that shape crime in a given state, county, city, town, tribal area or region," the FBI said in a statement.

"These rankings lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that can create misleading perceptions that adversely affect communities and their residents,” the statement continued. “Only through careful study and analyses into the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction can data users create valid assessments of crime."