NCJ Number
247302
Date Published
October 2012
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This Massachusetts Annual Policy Brief issued in October 2012 is intended to increase public awareness of the nature and prevalence of property crime in the Commonwealth by analyzing data over the 25-year period between 1987 and 2011.
Abstract
Property crime in the Commonwealth decreased 31 percent between the years 1987 and 2011, to 150,169 in 2011. During this same period, the property crime rates per 100,000 persons declined 40 percent, from 3,770.16 offenses per 100,000 persons to 2,279.58 offenses per 100,000 persons. The statewide volume of property crime decreased 5 percent from calendar year 2010 to calendar year 2011. This involved a decrease in each of the three major offense categories: burglary, 5-percent decline; larceny, 5-percent decline; and motor vehicle theft, 7-percent decline. Between calendar years 2010 and 2011, the overall 5-percent decrease in property offense categories involved a 6-percent decline for burglary, a 5-percent decline for larceny, and an 8-percent decline for motor vehicle theft. The data for this report were obtained from local agency and cumulative State property crime statistics provided by the Massachusetts State Police Crime Reporting Unit; national property crime data from the FBI's Web site; and population data (both decennial counts and annual estimates) from the U.S, Census Bureau's Web site. 9 figures, 2 tables, and 5 references