FBI: Violent Crime, Arson Up; Rape, Auto Theft Down

By ABC-7 Reporter Martin Bartlett

EL PASO — A preliminary FBI report released Tuesday underscores that violent crime is up slightly in El Paso, but a closer look reveals a more complex story.

There was a time when El Paso was the car theft capital of Texas, but the new numbers indicate a change on the border.

Veteran insurance agent George Saenz said he has been watching theft rates go down as enforcement, especially across the border, ratchets up.

“Things are really different now — they’re confiscating a lot of the stolen cars,” Saenz said. According to data compiled by the FBI, auto thefts are down 9.2 percent in 2008.

Numbers for forcible rape went down by 30 percent. According to the report, 259 rapes were reported in 2007. The figure fell to 181 in 2008. Burglaries were down by three percent.

A years-long rash of playground and school arsons showed up in the FBI numbers — arson rocketed upward 45 percent in 2008.

Lt. Mario Hernandez from the Fire Marshal’s Office said lots of children don’t think arson is a serious crime. Be he also said adults contributed to the increase, too.

“Times are tough and people are looking to drastic measures because they can’t make these house payments, they don’t want to face foreclosure or they can’t make their car payments,” Hernandez said.

Violent crimes did jump from 2,574 in 2007 to 2,825 in 2008, however. There were also 334 more aggravated assaults reported in 2008 than in 2007, statistics show. The city’s murder rate remained the same from 2007 to 2008.

The FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report tracks crime trends in cities across the country. The FBI does not keep track of the data for cities the size of Las Cruces. The data only includes cities with populations of 100,000 or more.

Below is the percentage of change from year-to-year among crimes in El Pasotracked by the report:

—2007-to-2008 CHANGE—

Violent Crime: +10%

Murders: 0%

Forcible Rape: -30%

Robbery: -3%

Aggravated Assault: +19%

Property Crime: -0.1%

Burglary: -3%

Larceny: -2%

Auto Theft: -9%

Arson: +45%

Here is a link to the entire report: