Houston crime rate declines in 2022, property crimes and vehicle thefts increase
HOUSTON - The Federal Bureau of Investigations released its annual "Crime in the Nation" report for 2022 and the feedback was mixed. While the overall crime rate in Houston fell slightly, there are some areas of concern.
The FBI’s crime statistics estimates show that national violent crime decreased by about 1.7% in 2022 compared to 2021. The newly released data recorded over 11 million criminal offenses nationwide. The statistics are reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program through the National Incident-Based Reporting System and the Summary Reporting System.
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Some of Houston’s crime was also on the decline. Crimes like homicide, rape, and manslaughter showed decreases from 2021 to 2022. However, there’s an uptick in property crimes like burglary and motor vehicle theft.
"What we see a lot are basically crimes of opportunity. They’re not victim-specific, so it’s not like somebody’s going after you specifically. They’re going after your belongings," said Nichole Christoph, the deputy director for Crime Stoppers.
Property crimes increased from 96,459 incidents in 2021 to 104,304 incidents in 2022. Meanwhile, motor vehicle thefts showed the biggest increase over the last two years.
"You'll be surprised, lock your doors, roll your windows up. It doesn’t take much for someone to get their hand into a window, even if it’s cracked a little bit, to unlock your car without having to even break the glass," said Christoph.