FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

SEN CABRERA: LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS REPORT VIOLENT CRIME IN CONNECTICUT DROPPED 11% IN 2022; CT IS THE 3rd-SAFEST STATE IN AMERICA

State Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden) announced today that violent crime in Connecticut reached its lowest level in at least a third of a century in 2022, according to local police departments, and that Connecticut’s violent crime rate continues to remain 60% below the national average, placing Connecticut once again among the safest states in America to live, work and raise a family.

Sen. Cabrera said violent crime also dropped in 2022 in the 17th Senate District towns of Ansonia, Bethany, Derby, Hamden, Naugatuck and Woodbridge (detailed crime data was not available for Beacon Falls).

“I know families have a lot to think about nowadays, but thankfully violent crime is not a major issue here in Connecticut when compared to the rest of the nation,” Sen. Cabrera said. “When it comes to the most heinous crimes, Connecticut the safest it’s ever been since at least the mid-1980’s. However, I continue to be concerned about some of the lower levels of crime in our state such as motor vehicle break-ins that are part of a larger, national trend and which affect the quality of our lives on a daily basis. But overall this FBI report is very good news.”

The new 2022 Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer crime data released Monday from 107 Connecticut police departments covering 98% of the population found that violent

crime in Connecticut – defined as homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – dropped 11% from 168.6 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2021 to 150 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2022.

The national violent crime average in 2022 was 380.7 incidents per 100,000 residents, meaning Connecticut’s violent crime rate is less than half the national average.

Violent crime in Hamden dropped by 8.8% from 2021 to 2022, declined 8% in Ansonia, 5% in Derby, 25% in Naugatuck (from 34 incidents in 2021 to 25 incidents in 2022) and by 66% in Woodbridge (from three incidents in 2021 to one incident in 2022).

Connecticut ranked as the third-safest state in America in 2022 for violent crime, coming in behind Maine (103.3 incidents per 100,000 residents) and New Hampshire (125.6 incidents per 100,000 residents). Other states far surpassed Connecticut’s violent crime rate in 2022, including South Carolina (491.3), Texas (431.9), Arizona (431.5) and Florida (258.9).

The full FBI report is available at: https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/home

Local Connecticut police departments also reported that:

1. Burglaries dropped 11% in 2022 to their lowest level in at least 37 years, and were 51% below the national average.

2. Motor vehicle thefts dropped 7.2% in 2022, and were 30% below the national average.

3. Property crimes dropped 1.6% in 2022 to their second-lowest level in at least 37 years, and were 23.5% below the national average.

4. Larceny rates remained essentially flat in 2022, but were still 16.6% below the national average.

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