Violent crime saw a nearly 8 percent jump in 2015 compared to the year before, according to a report released Friday by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Uniform Crime Report.
Murders stood out among the findings — they climbed nearly 60 percent from 2014 to 2015. Part of the jump is due to the drop in murders the state saw in 2014, when the number fell to 82. It was at 111 in 2013.
There were 130 murders statewide last year, the report said.
Of the data reported by law enforcement agencies, nearly 70 percent of the weapons used in homicides were firearms. Eighteen of the victims were killed by family members, 24 by a friend or acquaintance, 10 by a stranger and 31 by people with an unknown relationship to the victim.
The majority of the perpetrators were men between the ages of 18 and 34, the report said.
Seventeen people died from homicide in St. Paul last year, compared to 13 the year before. Minneapolis endured a bigger jump, climbing from 32 to 47, according to BCA data.
The trend follows increases in homicides seen in major cities across the country. Despite the climb, overall national crime rate reportedly remains lower than it has been in recent decades.
Officials with the BCA declined to comment on the report.
OTHER INCIDENTS OF VIOLENT CRIME ALSO ROSE
The number of rapes in Minnesota also saw a sizable increase, climbing from 1,980 in 2014 to 2,300 last year. There were 2,080 reports statewide in 2011.
Robbery and aggravated assaults also were up in 2015, but only slightly.
OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTINGS UP, ASSAULT OF OFFICERS DOWN
Officer-involved shootings also climbed. There were 39 “firearms discharge incidents” involving law enforcement in 2015 compared to 29 in 2014, the report said.
Of those, 13 people were killed in 2015, compared to 10 in 2014.
Meanwhile, assaults of law-enforcement officers went down. Four hundred and fifteen officers were assaulted in 2014 compared to 385 last year. In the majority of incidents, the perpetrator used their hands, fist or feet in the assault.
Officer Scott Patrick of Mendota Heights was killed in the line of duty in 2014. Deputy Steven Martin Sandberg, of the Aitkin County sheriff’s office, was killed in 2014.
NONVIOLENT CRIME DOWN
The report also found nonviolent crime moving in the other direction.
Property crimes dropped two percent between 2014 and 2015, and burglary incidents were down for the fourth year in a row.
Arson rates also continue to fall, as did bias-motivated crimes, which fell from 175 in 2012 to 96 in 2015.
NATIONAL INCREASES REPORTED
Earlier this year, the FBI reported the number of violent crimes reported for the first six months of 2015 has risen compared with figures for the first six months of 2014.
Nationally, murders increased 6.2 percent, aggravated assaults jumped 2.3 percent, robbery offenses rose 0.3 percent, according to the report. Rapes also increased nationwide.
CHANGES COMING FOR CRIME COLLECTION
In years to come, the state’s BCA hopes to be better equipped to answer the following kinds of questions:
Who is most likely to be victimized by certain kinds of crimes? Who are the most frequent offenders? Are assaults typically committed by strangers, or do the victim and perpetrator tend to know each other?
Changes in the BCA’s crime-reporting system will help state officials be better prepared to tackle those questions, the BCA reported.
The new system will mirror changes made to the Federal Bureau of Investigations standards and requires agencies to include more detail about the crimes that occur within their borders.
Today, agencies in Minnesota report limited information on just 10 types of crime. In the future, they will be asked to provide more detailed data on 62 crimes, including the time and location, demographics of the involved victim and offender and what kind of weapon, if any, was in play.
That level of detail is currently provided only for murders in Minnesota, the BCA reported.
The BCA will continue to work with pilot agencies on the new system through the end of the year . It hopes to start rolling it out statewide in 2017. It’s expected to take several years to fully implement.