FBI data: Homicides, car thefts spiked in state during pandemic
Amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, homicides spiked by more than 31 percent, while car thefts increased even more dramatically, newly released data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show.
In total, 140 people died by homicide in Connecticut in 2020, compared with 107 the year prior.
Last year’s death toll by homicide is the highest the state has seen since 2012, the year of the Sandy Hook school shooting, the data show. The spike is also the highest one-year increase in killings since the crime wave of the early 1990s, according to historical FBI data.
But the number is still far lower than the height of that wave, when annual homicides surpassed 200 for two consecutive years – 1993 and 1994 – the FBI data shows.
The FBI released the data Monday as part of its annual unified crime report, which takes reports from law enforcement agencies across the country. According to the FBI, nearly all Connecticut police agencies submitted information for 2020.
While the number of homicides rose, overall violent crime – a category that includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – dropped slightly in Connecticut when adjusted for population, bucking a national trend. At a little under 182 incidents per 100,000, the state’s violent crime rate remained less than half that of the nation overall at a little under 399
violent crimes per 100,000.
Nationally, violent crime spiked across the U.S. according to the FBI, and homicides rose more than 29 percent.
Mike Lawlor, a professor at the University of New Haven, said that rising numbers of some crimes – such as homicides, shootings and car thefts – belied an overall decrease in Connecticut’s violent crime rate over the last decade.
“Apart from that, everything is down, including murders when it comes to the suburbs,” said Lawlor, who also served as undersecretary of criminal justice policy in former Gov. Dannel Malloy’s administration.
A spike in the number of murders across the country last year is evidence that the killings are more likely the result of nationwide factors such as the pandemic and an unraveling of trust in the police following the murder of George Floyd, Lawlor said, rather than the result of any policies adopted by Connecticut lawmakers.
Lawlor predicted that homicides in Connecticut will begin to subside within the next year as pandemic-era restrictions are lifted. “They’re tending down a little bit from last year anyways,” he said.
The state’s per-capita rate of aggravated assault fell slightly between 2020 and the year prior, and remains far below the national average, the FBI data shows. The rate of rapes reported by population also fell from 2019 to 2020, mirroring a national trend.
The rate of robbery rose slightly from just under 55 per 100,000 to a little over 57. That went against the national trend, which saw robbery rates fall from nearly 82 per 100,000 to just under 74.
Car thefts, property crime
Motor vehicle theft rose even more dramatically during the pandemic, with 7,773 incidents reported in 2020, up around 43 percent from the year prior. Car thefts had dropped to 5,452 in 2019, down from the three years prior, according to the FBI data.
The rate of motor vehicle theft in Connecticut was lower than the national average when adjusted for population. But Connecticut saw a more dramatic increase in motor vehicle thefts per capita from 2019 to 2020 than the nation as a whole, according to the data.
Residential homes were the most common targets of motor vehicle theft, followed by road and alleyways, parking garages and lots and gas stations, the FBI data shows.
One factor might be the proximity of Connecticut to New York City with its criminal networks, said Hasan Arslan, an associate professor of justice and law administration at Western Connecticut State University. “You can easily hit the highway and basically sell this car and get rid of the car easily,” he said.
The pandemic has also increased the sales value of cars due to scarcity, he pointed out. “Every chaos creates an opportunity for criminals, or criminal-minded individuals,” Arslan said in a phone interview. For many the pandemic is a crisis but for those with a criminal mindset “they will seek this opportunity and use it for a profit,” he said.
Overall property crime per capita trended upwards in Connecticut in 2020 from the year before, despite property crime declining nationally when adjusted for population. The state reported around 1,565 property crimes per 100,000 people, up from around 1,432 the year earlier, the FBI data shows.
Arson offenses also remained below the national average per capita, with just over 6 incidents reported per 100,000 in the state in 2020 compared with more than 13 nationally.
Republican state lawmakers have for months called for a special session of the state legislature to address violent crime and auto theft.
Last week, state Republican leaders lambasted Gov. Ned Lamont after the Democratic governor called for a special session solely to extend the authorization of his pandemic emergency powers.
“Our state is fully submerged in a crime wave that legislative Democrats have willfully ignored despite justifiable outrage from their constituents who demand action,” a joint statement from Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly and House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora said. The statement called the limited special session “shameful” and said “the governor himself has been far too timid in his response to the shocking nature of these serious crimes.”