Crime Figures, Both Local And Nationwide, Have Gone Up

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula | Herald correspondent

It will come as no surprise to Killeen residents who have endured a rash of gang violence over the past month that violent crime is on the rise locally as well as across the state and nation. Recent crime reports released by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation last week show that overall violent crime has increased while property crime has declined.

“We know that crime patterns do not have simple explanations; the answer is multifaceted and there is not one answer that explains the trends,” Tammy Bracewell, associate professor of Criminal Justice at Texas A&M University-Central Texas, said in an email to the Herald.

Bracewell, a former police officer, answered some questions for the Herald on crime trends.

What’s going on?

The Killeen Police Department’s most recent annual report shows a rise in every category of violent crime, with the exception of rape, which declined 29% from 2019 to 2020.

Burglary and larceny decreased by 20% in Killeen from 2019-2020, but motor vehicle theft increased by 27% in those years.

(Violent crimes include murder, nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The FBI classifies burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson as property crimes.)

Many law enforcement jurisdictions in Bell County, including Killeen, reported an increase in violent crime from 2019 to 2020, according to the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer.

Recently-released data from the FBI show that KPD reported 583 violent crimes in 2019 while in 2020, 1,033 violent crimes occurred. There was an overall decrease in property crimes, from 3,432 in 2019 to 2,937 last year, according to the Crime Data Explorer.

Killeen is hardly alone in seeing an increase in violent crime and a decrease in property crime; it’s a trend that is being seen nationwide, according to the FBI’s annual “Crime in the U.S.” report, which was released on Sept. 27. It is a compilation of data from law enforcement agencies that participate in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

Nationwide, the estimated number of violent crimes increased 5.6% when compared to 2019. In the same time period, property crime numbers decreased by almost 8%. FBI data show that robbery and rape both declined while “the estimated number of aggravated assault offenses rose 12 percent and the volume of murder and non-negligent manslaughter offenses increased 29.4 percent.”

According to the FBI in a news release on Sept. 27, “property crimes dropped 7.8 percent, marking the 18th consecutive year the collective estimates for these offenses declined.”

Belton and Temple each reported increases in violent crime from 2019 to 2020, but not all Bell County jurisdictions followed that trend: Harker Heights and the Bell County Sheriff’s Office reported modest decreases in violent crime.

In Harker Heights, a decline in the number of violent crimes decreased from 65 in 2019 to 58 in 2020, according to FBI data. Property crimes decreased in that city, also, from 530 in 2019 to 429 in 2020.

Eighty-two violent crimes were reported by the Bell County Sheriff’s Office in 2019, compared with 74 in 2020. However, property crime numbers increased when comparing those two years, from 631 in 2019 to 724 in 2020.

Statewide data is reflective of nationwide trends toward an increase in violent crime.

“Violent crime volume increased by 7.9 percent” compared to 2019, while the volume of property crime decreased 4.7%, according to DPS in its “2020 Crime in Texas Report.” The report was released on Sept. 29.

Why is this happening?

People react to such news by searching for solutions, but there are no easy answers.

“The short version is that no one really knows why there has been an increase in certain crimes,” Bracewell said. “We are still attempting to understand crime patterns from decades ago. However, using theory and previous crime patterns we can make educated guesses as to the reasons behind the most recent patterns.”

Bracewell said that COVID-19 is a contributing factor to the rise in violent crime.

“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been an increase in stress,” Bracewell said. “Kids were home from school for long periods, adults lost their jobs, families were stuck in their homes, people were scared — all of these things, when combined, significantly increases stress and decreases our ability to cope. When stress increases, we see an increase in violent crime.”

Another factor is the state of the economy, which was altered by the pandemic.

“Because COVID-19 and the economy involve the entire country, this can explain trends that go beyond geographical areas,” Bracewell said. “We can confidently say that these things contributed to an increase; but at the end of the day, crime is complicated.”