Crime on the rise in Broomfield

An image from the Broomfield Police Department website.

Crime of all stripes tends to ratchet upward during difficult economic conditions -- and that's proven to be the case in Broomfield according to statistics assembled by the community's police department. During the first six months of this year, crime in general is up 3 percent. Even more worrisome, the most violent violations have risen by almost 30 percent, and burglaries are up 44 percent. Given Broomfield's size (estimated at just over 54,000), only a few incidents can cause large dips or peaks on any chart. Even so, residents can't be happy with the current trend.

See the Broomfield Police Department release citing specific statistics below.

Reports of serious crime are up 3% for the first six months of this year when compared to the first six months of 2008.

First Six Months

Homicide:
2008: 0
2009: 2

Rape:
2008: 4
2009: 2

Robbery:
2008: 2
2009: 6

Aggravated Assault:
2008: 11
2009: 14

Burglary:
2008: 39
2009: 56

Larceny/Theft:
2008: 509
2009: 499

Motor Vehicle Theft:
2008: 27
2009: 30

Total:
2008: 592
2009: 609

The most noticeable increase in 2009 occurred in the violent crime categories (homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault), which increased from 17 to 24, and burglaries, which increased 44%.