Las Vegas crime rate follows downward national trend

Crime in the Las Vegas Valley dropped overall in 2009 for the third straight year, following the nationwide trend.

According to the FBI uniform crime report, the Metropolitan Police Department reported a 2 percent decrease in violent crimes from 2009 to 2008, including drops in murder, rape and robberies.

There were 111 reported homicide cases in 2009, as opposed to 120 in 2008, a 7.5 percent decrease. The number of rape cases dropped 4.2 percent and robbery cases dropped 8.8 percent.

Las Vegas police also reported decreases in property crimes, burglaries, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson. The only category in which police reported a higher total of cases was aggravated assault, which increased by 2.5 percent.

The most significant drop occurred in property crimes, which decreased from 53,160 cases in 2008 to 47,668 in 2009 -- a 10.3 percent decrease -- and in motor vehicle theft.

Motor vehicle thefts have dropped 45 percent since 2007. About 16,000 vehicle thefts were reported in 2007 and just under 9,000 reported cases in 2009.

In Henderson, police reported a 15.7 percent increase in overall violent crime from 2008 to 2009, but had a much smaller sample size -- there were only violent 612 violent crimes reported in 2009 and 529 in 2008.

Henderson also reported increases in robberies, aggravated assaults and all other categories, excluding arson.

North Las Vegas also saw a 3 percent increase in overall violent crimes, up from 1,620 in 2008 to 1,668 in 2009.

North Las Vegas police reported 17 murders in 2009 compared with 11 in 2008. The city also had slight increases in robberies, aggravated assaults and motor vehicle theft. All other categories saw a slight decrease in cases.

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.