How Safe Are We In Highland?

According to the recently released FBI Crime Statistics for 2018 Highland and Alpine are the second safest cities in Utah. There are multiple ways to compare crime rates. I chose the four categories listed below to compare Highland with cities in the state and across the nation. We ranked second in all categories except for property crimes where we were first.

• Violent Crime: Rate per 1,000 residents (murders, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault).
• Property Crime: Rate per 1,000 residents (burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, Arson).
• Combined Crime: The property and violent crime rates are combined using the ratio of property to violent crime to normalize the two values. In 2018 5.7 property crimes were committed for every violent crime on a national basis.
• Cost of Crime: A report published in 2010 entitled “The Cost of Crime to Society: New Crime-Specific Estimates for Policy and Program Evaluation” provides a cost for each specific type of crime. This information was used to calculate the total cost of crimes committed in a city on a per capita basis.  

Below are charts and table based on four criteria mentioned above. For all comparisons (both state and national) only at cities with a population of 10,000 or more were evaluated.

I found the following statistics to be interesting:

• The average rate of violent crime in Utah is 2.56 per 1,000. In Highland it is 0.23 a (9% of the state average).
• The average rate of property crime in Utah is 24.99 per 1,000. In Highland it is 5.04 (20% of the state average).
• The average combined crime rate in Utah is 39.45. In Highland it is 6.36 (16% of the state average).
• The average cost of crime per capita in Utah is $781. In Highland it is $91.18 (12% of the state average).

I am grateful we live in a community with such a relative low crime rate, something to ponder about as Thanksgiving approaches.

Links:

Cost of crime

• The Cost of Crime to Society: New Crime-Specific Estimates for Policy and Program Evaluation (see tables 1 & 5), Kathryn E. McCollister, Michael T. French, and Hai Fang, Jan 2010
• Costs of Crime: Experts Report Challenges Estimating Costs and Suggest Improvements to Better Inform Policy Decisions, US Government Accountability Office Report, Sept 2017

Crime Data

• FBI 2018 Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State & City
• FBI 2018 Offenses Known to Law Enforcement
• Google spreadsheet used to produce charts and table