Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas' property crime rate jumps by 20 percent
By FRANK CURRERI
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Las Vegas saw a 20 percent increase in property crimes in 2003, nearly double the increase from the previous year and in contrast to a national trend, according to FBI statistics.
Meanwhile, violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery and assault, saw an overall rise of only 2 percent -- lagging behind the area's growth, which in Clark County trends just above 4 percent.
Clark County Sheriff Bill Young on Monday indicated the criminal justice system is perhaps too lenient with nonviolent offenders. Unfortunately, Young said, those recidivists are driving up the figures.
Las Vegas police officers are always making arrests and doing a good job, Young said, but their ranks are not large enough to adequately patrol such a fast-growing population.
"As you get into our property crimes É they do not have the priority of a murder or violent crimes," Young said. "We catch 'em -- we have great success in that. The car thieves -- two, three, four times we catch them. They still don't go to prison.
"It's very discouraging É my biggest challenge is having enough staff and cops to prevent crime. It's a very large contributing factor. Why are our schools overcrowded? Why is there a line at McCarran (International Airport) and DMV ... It's the same thing. The town is bursting at the seams."
In 2002, property crimes rose 11 percent from the previous year; violent crime was up 19 percent then. At the time, law enforcement leaders attributed the increase to several factors, including the need for more cops, the weakness of the economy, and a rise in the number of 15- to 25-year-olds, the age group that commits the most crimes.
In 2001, local crime grew by nearly 7 percent.
There were 144 murders in the Metropolitan Police Department's jurisdiction in 2003, a 5 percent spike from the previous year, the preliminary figures from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report revealed. Nationwide, the crime of murder rose by only 1 percent.
Property crimes fell by a decimal point for the rest of the nation in 2003, the stats showed. Nationwide, the violent crime rate declined by 3.2 percent.
There were 57,552 property crimes reported in the department's jurisdiction last year, more than 9,700 more than the previous year. The bulk of that 20 percent increase could be traced to the category of larceny-theft, which includes crimes such as shoplifting.
There were 14,718 reported motor vehicle thefts, a spike of nearly 18 percent, according to data Las Vegas police provided the FBI.
Henderson police reported a drop of 6.6 percent in violent crimes and a nearly 7 percent increase in property crimes. Although the number of murders increased last year in Henderson -- to six, from four -- robberies dipped by nearly 50 percent. There were 101 robberies reported in Henderson compared with 200 the previous year.
Las Vegas saw jumps in eight major categories -- including rape (up 3.4 percent), robbery (up 4.8 percent) and burglary (up 14.8 percent). Las Vegas saw decreases in only two areas: aggravated assault (down .5 percent) and arson (down 2.8 percent).
Clark County Assistant District Attorney J. Charles Thompson said his office's first priority is prosecuting violent offenders. He said to get tough with more nonviolent recidivists, additional resources would have to be devoted to the entire criminal justice system.
The district attorney's office filed close to 55,000 cases last year, he said, but has only 83 prosecutors. Fewer than half of those cases involved felony charges.
"We do the best we can," said Thompson, a former district judge. "But you're not going to put every one of those (nonviolent offenders) individuals in prison. There is just no room for them, and the judges know that.
"The answer lies not just in more police officers on the street, but also more prosecutors, more judges and more prison space. It's a mushrooming thing."
Young said his department also needs more Spanish-speaking officers to improve relations with the growing Hispanic community. A lack of officers fluent in Spanish makes it difficult to investigate many crimes in the Hispanic community, he said.
Although the crime rate has increased, "we still have the feeling that in most communities you can walk the streets and still feel safe -- but not all areas," the sheriff said. "And I will never be satisfied until every neighborhood feels that sense of security."
The FBI's final 2003 crime data is due out by this fall.
