Serious crime rose 3.8 percent in Utah during 1994, despite a nearly 6 percent decline in violent crime in the state capital, the FBI reported this week.
Utah's crime statistics went against the three-year national trend of a slight decline in crime. According to the FBI's report, overall crime fell 1 percent nationwide, while murders, rapes, assaults and robberies dropped 3.2 percent.Despite the mixed findings, Salt Lake police are pleased with the city's numbers.
"Considering that our population has gone up in that time period, I'd say we're holding our own," said Sgt. Phil Kirk, spokesman for the Salt Lake City Police Department. "We're doing a pretty good job."
Only one more person was murdered in Salt Lake City last year than in the year before. There were 158 rape reports, down from 204 in 1993. Robbery edged up slightly, from 498 reports to 502. And assaults fell to 640, down from 681.
On the other hand, property crimes such as burglary, larceny and auto theft rose from 17,130 in 1993 to 17,754 last year. That includes a nearly 23 increase in the number of vehicles stolen on city streets.
Kirk said one particularly alarming finding is a 66.7 percent increase in the number of Salt Lake officers assaulted while on duty.
Detailed numbers for the rest of the state were not available from the FBI, but a report from the state Department of Public Safety said that nearly all types of crime were up in 1994. The only declines came in the categories of murder, which came in three less than 1993 at 56, and rape, which dropped by 20 to 786.
One place where Utah mirrored the nation is in the category of juvenile crime. Arrests of American youths younger than age 18 surged by 7 percent last year. In Utah, arrests were actually down, but the number of youth offenses soared.
Utah juvenile offenses in nearly every category from homicide to running away climbed 10.4 percent in 1994, according to the state report.
"For whatever problems Salt Lake City might have, it's not L.A. It's not on the same scale, said Gary Kiger, chairman of the USU sociology department.