A number of violent crimes spiked in Minnesota in 2015, according to the annual report from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The report is based on data reported by law enforcement agencies across the state, and it uncovered that 2015 was much more violent than the prior year. According to the report:
- Murders jumped 60 percent in 2015. Part of the reason behind the huge jump is that Minnesota experienced a big dip in murders from 2013 to 2014 (111 to 82), but that number jumped all the way up to 130 in 2015.
- 70 percent of the weapons used in homicides were firearms.
- 17 people died from homicide in St. Paul last year, up from 13 in 2014. Minneapolis saw a bigger jump from year to year, increasing from 32 to 47 in 2015.
- The number of reported rapes increased from 1,980 to 2,300 in 2015.
- Robberies and aggravated assaults also increased slightly in 2015.
- Officer-involved shootings jumped from 29 in 2014 to 39 in 2015.
- Assaults on officers declined from 415 in 2014 to 385 in 2015.
- Non-violent crimes decreased in 2015. Property crimes fell by two percent, while burglary crimes fell for the fourth straight year.
- Arson rates also fell off, and bias-motivated crimes dropped from 175 to 96 in 2015.
- In all, violent crime increased 8 percent in Minnesota in 2015.
The BCA report only collects information on 10 different types of crime, but they hope to expand collection to a total of 62 different crimes in the future. They also plan to collect information like time, location, victim demographics and weapon information to create a comprehensive list and see if patterns can be recognized to help develop prevention strategies. They plan to begin the more thorough collection process in 2017, but it is expected to take several years before the full reporting system is implemented state-wide.
