Courtesy of the Utah Priorities Project and Utah Foundation

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Utah's Crime Situation

For most of the last four decades, Utah’s crime rate has largely mirrored the national crime rate as shown in Figure 1. Beginning in 1995, Utah’s index crime rate has been significantly higher than the national average, which is also a trend among the Western states. Index crimes include murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. Over the last ten years (1993-2002), the number of index crimes committed in Utah has grown 8.8%, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Report statistics. When adjusted for population growth, the crime rate has actually fallen 15.0%. The reduction in the crime rate, however, falls short of the national decline, which was 24.9% over the same period. Utah currently has the 18th highest crime rate in the country. Figure 2 compares the crime rates of the surrounding mountain states.

Violent Crimes

Utah remains a relatively safe place to live with a relatively low violent crime rate. The state’s violent crime rate of 236.9 per 100,000 population is the 8th lowest crime rate in the U.S. Violent crimes, which include murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery, accounted for 5.3% of total crimes committed in Utah during 2002 (Figure 3). Utah’s violent crime rate has been consistently lower than the national average (Figure 4). In fact, Utah’s violent crime rate has been less than half that of the national average. Since a peak in violent crimes in 1997, the violent crime rate in Utah has fallen 29.1%. .

While the murder, aggravated assault and robbery rates are significantly lower than the national average, Utah’s forcible rape rate has been surprisingly higher than the national average. Utah had the 13th highest rape rate (40.7 per 100,000) among states in 2002, which has risen markedly between 1988 and 1991 as shown in Figure 5. According to the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJJ), a large reason for Utah’s high forcible rape rate is attributed to a vast improvement in the reporting of rapes. However, a recent study by the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, which is funded by the Center for Disease Control, found that Utah ranked second in the nation in terms of the estimated percentage of rape victims. The report estimates that 20.6 percent, or a fifth, of the state’s female population is a victim of rape. Only Alaska had a higher percentage of rape victims (20.9 percent) than Utah according to the study. The 2000 National Crime Victimization Survey found that in 1999, only 28% of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement officials.

Property Crimes

Property crimes, which include burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft, accounted for 94.7% of total crimes committed in Utah during 2002 (Figure 3). Utah ranks particularly high in property crimes, a category in which as recent as 1999, the state had the sixth highest property crime rate in the country at 4700.9 per 100,000 population (Figure 6). Although, by the latest 2002 numbers, Utah’s property crime ranking (13th) and rate (4215.5 per 100,000) had both fallen.

The largest reason for Utah’s high property crime rate and index crime rate is the number of larceny and thefts that are committed in the state. According to the FBI, larceny and theft is defined as “the unlawful taking of property without use of force, violence or fraud.” Larceny and thefts account for 72.5% of the crimes that were committed in Utah in 2002 (Figure 3). Burglaries and motor-vehicle theft are the next most frequent crimes, accounting for 14.7% and 7.5%, respectively, of the total crimes committed in Utah. According to the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, larceny and theft is one crime where Utah’s rate has been historically higher than the national rate. Figure 6 compares the historical larceny and theft rates of Utah and the U.S. Utah’s larceny and theft rate has been considerably higher than the national rate every year for at least the last four decades and has never been below the national rate in that time. From 1997-1999 Utah had the highest larceny-theft rate in the country. Since peaking in 1995, Utah’s larceny-theft rate had fallen 29.4% by 2002. Also, until the mid-1990s, Utah’s burglary and motor-vehicle theft rates had been much lower than the national average (Figure 6), but the gap has been considerably closed in recent years.

Identity Theft

Respondents to the Utah Priorities Poll identified identity theft as the second highest concern about crime, safety and security issues in Utah. There is significant cause for concern considering that identity theft is now the most common consumer fraud complaint and the fastest growing crime in America, increasing nearly 600% since 2000, according to the Federal Trade Commission. In 2003 there were 1,326 identity theft complaints from Utah victims, up from 886 in 2002, which is an increase of 49.7%. Utah ranked 22nd in the country for identity thefts in 2003, up from 35th in 2001. Credit card fraud was the leading type of identity theft accounting for 29% of identity thefts, which was followed by bank fraud (26%) and phone or utilities fraud (21%). Figure 7 details the identity theft types that were reported by Utah victims.

Crime Prevention & Law Enforcement

Crime prevention and law enforcement in Utah largely falls on the 125 municipal police departments and county sheriff’s offices. The state has three law enforcement agencies, which are: the Highway Patrol, Parks and Recreation, and Wildlife Resources.

When compared to national figures, Utah employs a relatively low amount of police officers. Overall, Utah’s state and local law enforcement agencies employed 4,108 full-time law enforcement officers in 2002. 2000 Census figures show that Utah ranks 43rd in the U.S., and lowest among mountain states, in terms of the rate of full-time sworn officers in law enforcement agencies. In 2000, Utah had 187 officers per 100,000 population, which was well below the national average of 252 officers per 100,000 population. However, the state ranks considerably higher in per capita state and local government expenditures for police protection (26th in the country). According to Census, police expenditures were $170 per capita for 2000 in Utah, whereas the national average was $201 per capita.