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DPS crime report shows violent crime up while arrests down


The Department of Public Safety released its annual crime data report on Tuesday, and it shows most violent crimes are up.{ }(Photo: Getty Images)
The Department of Public Safety released its annual crime data report on Tuesday, and it shows most violent crimes are up. (Photo: Getty Images)
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The Department of Public Safety released its annual crime data report on Tuesday, and it shows most violent crimes are up.

The report concluded that in 2020, nearly 80,000 crimes were committed in Utah.

“We're seeing this so much more frequently, and it feels like time has been sped up in a way,” said Jenn Oxborrow, a crime victim advocate.

Oxborrow said his best guess at what’s driving the spike starts with a heightened level of stress.

“It's more stressors all around, it's more stress on the community, more stress on individuals who are already at risk and definitely more stress on our law enforcement teams,” Oxborrow said.

RELATED: Utah had a surge of homicides and violent crime in 2020, new FBI data shows

The report shows rapes were down 10% in 2020 compared to 2019, but almost all other violent crime was up, including homicides by 44%, car theft by 35% and property crime by 6%.

An aggravated assault happened in Utah every two hours and a burglary every 63 minutes, according to the report.

“The spike in violent crime has actually been trending up over the last couple years, we've just been seeing a really big increase for 2020 and a lot of that I think does correlate with the pandemic and a lot of the civil unrest that was experienced throughout the state,” said Mandy Biesinger, a field service supervisor with DPS who oversaw the report.

At the same time crime was up, the report shows arrests were down 20%.

Biesinger said police policy changed to not have as much contact during COVID-19 and jails did not process as many inmates as a health safety precaution.

Before making a final assessment, Biesinger said she wants to see what the data looks like next year.

“I know a lot of people are probably sick of that being said, '2020 was such a weird year,' but it really did have a huge impact on the criminal justice system” Biesinger said.

Chad Jensen, head of the Utah Sheriff's Association, said in a statement the “catch and release, cashless bail, defund the police, radical agenda is good for criminals and a disaster for public safety. Unfortunately, it has caught up with us.”

Victims can get immediate help by calling the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition at 800-897-LINK or visiting their website.

Victims can also access Utah Department of Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health resources here.

The full report can be found here.

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