Seattle Medium
According to a state crime report released by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), there were 325 murders in 2021, an increase of 5.9% over 2020, following a 47% increase the year before. The association stated that this is the highest number of murders recorded since WASPC began collecting this data in 1980.
The same report states that Washington state lost nearly 500 police officers statewide in 2021 as the state’s population grew more than the population. The theme that was pushed by the law enforcement association is “violent crime up as Washington state sees decrease in police officers.”
COVID has created some remarkable changes to the numbers. The report shows violent crime, including murder and assault, increased by more than 12% in 2021 while the number of police officers decreased 4.4%. WASPC tracks crime and arrest data from law enforcement agencies throughout the state. The association says the report is designed to give residents, elected officials, and law enforcement data-driven information about crime in their communities.
Some more interesting information to see in the report includes hate crimes. According to the report, hate crimes in the state increased by 26.5% in 2021 with the most frequent offenses being intimidation and destruction of property.
Interestingly enough, volent crime overall, which includes murder, aggravated assault, robbery and rape, increased by 12.3% in 2021. The kicker is the report states that total crime overall is statistically down slightly, including a 78.8% decrease in identity theft and fraud from 2020. This, the report states, is largely due to the huge spike in unemployment fraud during the pandemic.
Other factors contributing to the statistical downward trend include a 60.9% decrease in drug offenses and a 73.6% decrease in drug arrests, due to a change in state laws. The Blake decision in 2021 is credited with much of the data as well. Blake completely changed the ability to charge a criminal offense for personal possession.
The state’s population gained 116,440 residents from 2020 to 7,772,505, according to the Washington State Office of Financial Management. The number of commissioned law enforcement officers decreased 4.4%. The per capita rate of law enforcement officers fell to 1.38 per 1,000 statewide.
