ST PAUL, Minn. — Violent crimes such as murder, rape and aggravated assault dropped by 8.6% across Minnesota in 2022, according to a new report released Monday by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The BCA's 2022 Uniform Crime Report, which includes data collected by individual law enforcement agencies, also showed a 3.6% decrease in property crimes compared to the previous year.
"I think it's really a reassuring report on many counts," said Chris Uggen, a professor of sociology, law and public affairs at the University of Minnesota. "We do have kind of a return to the daily rhythms of life, so we think that might have something to do with amping things down a bit, but that's all pretty speculative at this point. I'm crossing my fingers that we continue on this downward trend."
Violent crime soared in Minnesota and nationally during the first two years of the pandemic, fueled by a complex mix of factors often cited by criminologists: quarantine and lockdowns, job loss, social unrest and riots, and the decimation of police staffing, among many other factors. Although the 2022 report issued by the BCA on Monday showed a dip from year-to-year, violent crime levels were still 30% higher than the most recent pre-pandemic year of 2019.
According to the BCA, motor vehicle thefts also increased by nearly 13% in 2022, while carjackings committed with force actually dropped 23%.
"You had individuals who, alone, were accountable for 20 or more carjackings. I think some targeted enforcement efforts have made a difference there," Uggen said. "I think car theft is going to be much tougher to get a handle on in the coming years."
Minnesota's crime numbers mirror the national trends in almost every category.
In a sampling of more than 30 U.S. cities this summer, the Council on Criminal Justice found a 33.5% increase in motor vehicle thefts during the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. At the same time, the CCJ report shows a decrease in homicides of 9.4% for the first half of 2023, although, like Minnesota, these numbers are still much higher than in 2019.
"Though the level of serious violent crime is far below historical peaks, it remains intolerably high, especially in poorer communities of color," the authors wrote. "Research has identified strategies that work to reduce violence and improve the fairness and effectiveness of policing. Intensive efforts on both fronts are essential to help cities achieve lasting reductions in homicide and other crime."
Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and one of the authors of the report, said he welcomes the recent drop in violent crime but added that "most places are not back to where they were just prior to the pandemic." For example, in Minneapolis, homicides are down 34 percent year-to-year in 2023 but are still on pace to surpass the 2019 total.
"Three-quarters or more of all the big cities are experiencing homicide declines, and that's been going on for quite a few months now," Rosenfeld said. "We're clearly into a crime decline. How long it will last... is someone's guess."
The BCA report published on Monday only counts crimes reported to police. A broader survey of crime victims will be released on the federal level in the coming months.
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