Hawaii thefts top FBI stats on states
Hawaii continued to have the highest larceny-theft rate in the country in 2006 despite an 11 percent decrease from the previous year, according to statistics the FBI released yesterday.
There were 2,949.1 larceny-thefts reported per 100,000 people in Hawaii last year, compared with 3,313.3 in 2005. The state's 2005 rate also was the highest among all states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The number of larceny-thefts reported in Hawaii in 2006 is 37,910 compared with 42,188 in 2005, according to the FBI's latest Crime in the United States report. The entire report is available online at www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/index.html.
Hawaii experienced an 11.9 percent reduction in all categories of property crimes in 2006 but still had the fifth-highest property crime rate in the country. Only the District of Columbia, Arizona, Washington and South Carolina had higher rates last year.
There were 4,230.4 property crimes reported per 100,000 people in Hawaii in 2006 compared with 4,799.8 in 2005. The number of property crimes reported in the state last year is 54,382. The 2005 number is 61,115.
Hawaii also had the sixth-highest motor vehicle theft rate last year despite a 15 percent drop in the number of auto thefts compared with 2005.
The number of property crimes and the property crime rate dropped nationwide last year but not as dramatically as in Hawaii. The number of property crimes dropped 1.9 percent, while the property rate dropped by 2.8 percent. The national property crime rate in the country last year was 3,334.5.
Fueled by double-digit increases in robberies and aggravated assaults, a 10.1 percent increase in violent crime hit Hawaii in 2006 compared with the previous year. However, the state's violent crime rate of 281.2 was the 16th lowest in 2006. And we had the fourth-lowest murder and negligent manslaughter rate in the country last year.
The District of Columbia continues to be the murder capital of the country. It also had the highest rates of violent crime, robbery and aggravated assault, by wide margins over the next highest.
The robbery rate in Hawaii was 88.9 in 2006, a 13 percent increase over the 2005 robbery rate of 78.6. The number of robberies went up to 1,143 from 1,001 over the same period.
Aggravated assaults in Hawaii increased to 2,096 last year from 1,885 in 2005, raising the aggravated assault rate over the same period to 163.0 from 148.0.
The violent crime rate nationwide increased 1 percent last year.
