PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Both violent crime and property crime decreased in many of Oregon’s largest cities from 2021 to 2022, according to preliminary data released by the FBI. Portland was among them.
On April 17, the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission compiled a report using the FBI’s preliminary data to show how crimes trended from 2021 to 2022 in the state’s cities with populations over 100,000. This includes Bend, Eugene, Gresham, Hillsboro, Portland and Salem.
“Overall, Oregon’s most populated cities have experienced a nearly 9 percent decrease in violent index crime from 2021 to 2022, largely influenced by significant decreases in Bend, Eugene and Portland,” the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission wrote.
It’s a vast improvement compared to the 11.8% increase in violent crime these cities saw between 2020 and 2021. The state said this indicates that the concerning increase in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic may be reversing, at least in these large cities.
Two of these larger cities, Hillsboro and Salem, reported increases in violent crime. Hillsboro’s violent crime increased by 7.8% from 2021 to 2022. Salem’s increased by 3%.
Property crime also rose 17.9% in Hillsboro in 2022, according to the data.
Portland, the city that reported a record-breaking 96 homicides in 2022, actually had a 10.6% decrease in violent crime, according to the data. Property crime was also down 2.1%.
In the FBI’s data, violent crime includes murder and non-negligent manslaughter, first-degree rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
Property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.
When the crimes for all six of the Oregon cities with populations over 100,000 are added together, the cities combined saw an 8.8% decrease in violent crime and a 2.6% decrease in property crime.
The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission compared these numbers to those of the combined large cities in other Western states and found that Oregon’s improvement was the third best, only behind Idaho and Montana.
Idaho cities with populations over 100,000 saw a 12.7% decrease in crime and Montana’s saw a 9.1% decrease.
“Regarding violent crime, Oregon’s cities generally showed middling rates of change when compared to other US cities,” The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission wrote.
The justice commission also compared the crime rates of Oregon’s six largest cities to cities in the U.S. with populations over 500,000.
Major cities such as Milwaukee, Wis.(-30.6%); Columbus, Ohio (-28.6%); and Memphis, Tenn. (-17.2%) saw significant decreases in their violent crime rates.