Violent offenses rose in Glendale for 2017, while overall crime rate declined
Glendale saw a 19.6% jump in violent crimes last year, continuing an upward trend that began in 2014, according to numbers from the Glendale Police Department.
Despite the rise in violent incidents, the overall crime rate in the city was 7.5% lower last year than it was in 2016. The police’s year-end crime statistics logged 3,404 reported crimes last year while the year before saw 3,680.
Violent crimes — homicides, robberies, rapes and aggravated assaults — accounted for 274 of those incidents last year. In 2016, there were 229.
When asked to comment on the statistics, department officials said they are currently looking into why violent crimes were up, while the overall rate was down, and they have yet to complete the analysis.
Robberies saw a 51.2% jump last year, rising from 84 incidents in 2016 to 127. Aggravated assaults went from 104 reported incidents in 2016 to 112 last year.
There was a 200% increase in homicides, with three cases in 2017, while 2016 had only one.
Rape was the only violent crime that decreased last year, from 40 cases in 2016 to 32 in 2017 — a 20% drop.
The number of property crimes made up the bulk of reported crimes in the city, seeing a 9.3% reduction last year, going from 3,451 to 3,130. Property crimes include burglaries, auto thefts, arson, petty thefts and grand thefts.
The number of burglaries dropped 16.4% last year, from 596 to 498, while auto thefts went from 359 in 2016 to 316 last year.
Petty thefts saw the most reports in 2017 with 1,499. It was an 8.4% decrease from 2016, which had 1,637.
There was a 2.3% gain in grand thefts last year, going from 355 to 363. The number of arsons in Glendale significantly jumped from 5 to 13, or a 160% rise.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
