Crime Rates a Mixed Bag in Lakewood

Analyzing crime data for Lakewood can get a bit fuzzy.

According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report released this month, Lakewood’s violent crime rate in 2010 dropped to 153.4 per 100,000 residents, the lowest since 2002, and is less than half the rates for the United States and Ohio, which are 403.6 and 315.2 respectively.

In fact, Lakewood scored below the national and state average in every category measured by the report.

Lakewood saw zero murders last year, and the aggravated assault rate was 64.6, according to the FBI report, the lowest since 1999. The national average was 252.3.

Rates of property crime, burglary and larceny-theft increased slightly from 2009 levels, but were still in the top five lowest rates since 2000. And the motor vehicle theft rate was the lowest in more than a quarter century.

Now here’s the kicker.

Lakewood Police Department Chief Tim Malley said the numbers are a good sign, but there is a catch: his numbers are different.

“We look at last year, and we had 104 automobile thefts,” he said.

The FBI report had the number of motor vehicle thefts at 26.

“I don’t know where they got that number,” Malley said.

The Uniform Crime Report is a compilation of data from 17,000 police agencies across the country. According to the FBI’s website, it provides agencies with a handbook outlining the definitions the bureau uses to classify and score crimes “to ensure these data are uniformly reported.”

“Acknowledging that offense definitions may vary from state to state, the FBI cautions agencies to report offenses not according to local or state statutes but according to those guidelines provided in the handbook,” a statement on the website said.

Even with the disparity between the FBI and local numbers, the report provides an accurate comparison to national figures, and a window into crime trends over time within a community, Malley said.

The report is split into two types of crime – violent crime, which includes murder, non-negligible manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, and property crime, including burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.

The actual numbers might be off, but the trends are still pretty on-point.

According to Lakewood Police's 2010 annual report, the number of auto thefts is still the lowest since 2002, as is the number of violent crimes, with about 240 offenses last year, compared to 300 in 2009, and nearly 350 in 2005, the peak during that period. The city also saw drops in arson and felonious assault.

“I think it’s a testament to the hard work of everybody at the police department,” Malley said. “Hard work pays off.”

Also in the police department’s report was a sharp increase in the number of marijuana-related arrests, from just over 300 arrests in 2009 to nearly 450 in 2010.

“A lot of that’s due to the diligence of the officers going beyond the stops,” he said. “When an officer stops somebody for a traffic violation, and they see drugs or drug paraphernalia, they are moving forward with those charges.”