Statistics kept by the Eugene police, some of which were included in a recent FBI report, show that violent crime and property crime decreased in the area. Although still high compared to cities of similar sizes, statistics also revealed that Eugene has seen a decline in car thefts.
A Eugene police service analyst said that the high number of property crime and auto theft reports in the area are an indicator that Eugene needs more police funding and staffing.
“Oregon and Washington are the least policed states in America,” Eugene Police Department’s Terry Smith said, adding, “Eugene and Lane County have fewer officers than the state average.”
Despite being understaffed, Smith said EPD solves as many crimes as police agencies around the country with twice the staff.
Eugene saw a dramatic decrease in citywide car thefts last year compared to 2005, EPD crime analyst Stan Lenhart said.
Although car theft reports increased all three years prior to 2006, last year saw a 31 percent decrease in car theft reports compared to 2005, Lenhart said.
“We really can’t tell if it’s a trend yet because there aren’t enough years of data to look at it,” he said.
Lenhart said he speculated that the decline occurred because key offenders could be in prison or the public might be doing a better job of securing vehicles. Car theft in Eugene is still high compared to nationwide averages.
Smith said Lane County is the one of the worst 15 counties in America for auto theft. Unlike Lane County, most counties with a high rate of car theft have an active seaport.
Eugene also saw a decrease in homicides, from 12 in 2005 to five in 2006. Lenhart said homicide reports typically range from two to five annually. He added that 2005 was an unusual year but said he didn’t know why.
Last year also saw an increase in bank robberies, from 11 in 2005 to 24 in 2006 – another out of-the-ordinary statistic for Eugene. According to Lenhart, Oregon was once ranked as 7th in the nation for bank robberies. The number decreased in the 1990s, and Oregon is now 17th for its rate of bank robberies. Lenhart speculated that bank robbers moved to the area but he couldn’t say for sure why there was a surge in bank robberies in Eugene. A spree of daylight bank robberies struck Eugene in June and July last year at various banks, including Umpqua Bank on Valley River Drive and Bank of America on East 11th Avenue.
Three of Eugene’s bank robberies were solved last year, according to the FBI. Oregon has an average of 4.9 bank robberies per 100,000 people compared to the national average of 2.4 bank robberies per 100,000 people. An FBI report shows that violent crime, which includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, went up 3.7 percent nationwide during the first six months of 2006, compared to the same time period in 2005.
Locally, reports of violent crime increased from 131 reports in the first half of 2005 to 197 reports in the first half of 2006, according to the FBI’s Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report. Reports of murders increased from zero to two; rape decreased from 36 to 10; robberies remained the same at 61; and aggravated assault decreased from 100 to 58.
Lenhart said Eugene’s violent crime rate is below average when compared to other cities the same size.
Reports of local property crimes, which include burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft, decreased from 4,971 to 3,805.
Lenhart said Eugene has a high rate of property crime when compared to other mid-sized cities. He speculated the large number of property crime occurs because of drug activity.
“Historically, that’s where it comes from,” he said.
The FBI’s report excludes crimes like simple assault, prostitution and vandalism, Lenhart said. These types of crimes account for more than half of Eugene crime activity.
Beth Anne Steele, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Portland office, said a full report will be released around October that will include smaller cities.
“The data is collected so that we have a long-range look at crime trends,” she said.
At EPD, Smith said crime broken down by category has been collected since at least 1960. The data helps determine staff workloads.
“For example, (in the past) we have seen a surge in auto theft,” he said. “So we’ve put a greater emphasis on trying to catch auto thieves.”
Steele said external factors such as economic, growth and funding issues might impact local agencies and cause a fluctuation in numbers.
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Car theft: Down 31 percent
Homicide: Down 54 percent
Bank robberies: Up 45 percent
Violent crime: Down 33.5 percent
Property crime: Down 23 percent