NAUGATUCK — Naugatuck saw a decrease in crime last year, according to recently released statistics from the FBI.
The FBI released its annual Crime in America report on Sept. 28. The yearly report tracks violent and property crimes that are reported to local police departments throughout the country.
Violent crimes, which include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, declined 18 percent in Naugatuck in 2014 compared to 2013. Property crimes, which include burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson, dropped 19.5 percent in 2014 from the previous year.
Naugatuck police spokesman Lt. Bryan Cammarata said overall the dip in crime was within the normal variance that the borough sees from year to year.
“There is nothing dramatically different that we’re doing in 2014 from what we did in 2013 or what we are doing in 2015,” Cammarata said. “These are trends that happen to go up and down.”
The stats in Naugatuck followed state and national trends.
According to the report, in 2014 nationally reported violent crime decreased 0.2 percent compared to 2013. Nationally reported property crimes were down 4.3 percent from 2013.
Violent crime in Connecticut during 2014 decreased an overall 9.7 percent, including a 5.5 percent drop in murders, a 12.2 percent decline in rapes, an 11 percent decrease in robberies, and an 8.4 percent reduction in aggravated assaults.
The FBI reported a 7.6 percent drop in burglaries last year, a 2.1 percent drop in larcenies, and a 2.1 percent drop in motor vehicle thefts in Connecticut.
Cammarata said the borough department keeps its eyes out each year for significant changes in certain categories, such as homicides.
In both 2013 and 2014 the borough had no reported homicides, according to the report. Cammarata said if that number suddenly jumped to four or five, the department would consider that alarming and address the issue.
Cammarata said the only thing that stands out in the report is the number of motor vehicle thefts the borough experienced in 2013. In 2013 there were 60 motor vehicle thefts. That number dropped by nearly half, to 33, in 2014.
Cammarata pointed to a rash of vehicle thefts up and down the Route 8 corridor in 2013 for the cause of the spike in the 2013 figure.
The good news from the report, Cammarata said, was there wasn’t a spike in any particular crime.
“The good end of it is that nothing dramatically went up. Mostly it came down. We’re doing about the same,” Cammarata said.
Cammarata said, while there is always room for improvement, he thinks the department does a good job of keeping crime down in the borough.
“I don’t look at the numbers and say there is anything dramatically different we need to do. I think we do a pretty good job of trying to keep the numbers down,” Cammarata said.
The Republican-American contributed to this article.
Violent Crimes
Murder: 2013 (0); 2014 (0)
Rape: 2013 (10); 2014 (4)
Robbery: 2013 (13); 2014 (10)
Aggravated Assault: 2013 (10); 2014 (13)
Property Crimes
Burglary: 2013 (200); 2014 (77)
Larceny/Theft: 2013 (507); 2014 (507)
Motor Vehicle Theft: 2013 (60); 2014 (33)
Arson: 2013 (0); 2014 (3)
Naugatuck crime statistics from the FBI’s annual Crime in America report.
