Annual WA crime report shows violent crimes down, hate crimes and vehicle thefts up
WASHINGTON — The annual Crime in Washington report detailing specific crime rates throughout the state in 2023 found that as overall violent crimes went down, but hate crimes and vehicle thefts went up.
The report is based on data that was sent to the Washington State Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs by 225 agencies across the state.
The report said that the rate of murders, violent and property crimes decreased slightly across the state. There were 376 murders in 2023 which was a 5.8% decrease from 2022. But last year’s number is an 87% increase from 2019.
Violent crimes decreased about 5.5% and property crime also decreased by about 11.9%.
The report detailed statistics that showed that hate crimes increased by 6%. The highest frequency of hate crimes based on demographics were race, religion, disability, gender/gender identity, and sexual orientation.
- Race: Anti-Black/African American
- Religion: Anti-Jewish
- Disability: Anti-Mental Disability
- Gender/Gender Identity: Anti-Transgender
- Sexual Orientation: Anti-LGBTQ
Since 2019, the state has seen a 112% increase in vehicle thefts. Based on the report vehicle thefts increased by 5.4% over the last year. More than 20% of people who were arrested for vehicle theft were juveniles, which is a 24% increase from 2022.
The report also looked at the staffing numbers of officers across the state. The number of commissioned officers went up by 94 which brought the total to 10,760. The report said that Washington ranked 51st out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia for the number of officers per thousand residents.
Overall, crime rates are still above pre-pandemic levels.
