A new quarterly crime report released Tuesday by Connecticut criminal justice officials found that the most serious crimes declined by more than 14% during the first three quarters of last year.
The statistics from the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection showed a decline of 3.5% in crimes against persons, 5.1% in crimes against society, and a decrease of 18.4% in the number of crimes against property in Connecticut when compared with the first three quarters of 2023.
DESPP Commissioner Ronnell A. Higgins said the statistics demonstrated an ongoing trend of declining crime rates that have made Connecticut among the safest states in the country.
“The nearly across the board positive numbers are certainly good news, but this is an effort that must continue day and night, every day of the year,’’ Higgins said. “These preliminary numbers for 2024 remind us that Connecticut is one of the safest states in the nation, and getting safer.”
The report detailed significant declines in some of the most serious crimes including a 41.1% decrease in murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, a 17.8% decline in rapes, and a 2.6% drop in simple assaults.
The statistics found similar declines in other offenses like motor vehicle thefts, which decreased by 19.6%, and shoplifting, which dropped by 3.6%.
The release of the quarterly data represents a new approach for the agency, which had previously released statistics on an annual basis, when they were already more than a year old. Department officials like Chief Data Officer Michael Mascari said the more-frequent release of information would help law enforcement agencies and members of the public stay up-to-date on crime trends.
“Getting the data out there to the public quarterly will provide awareness to residents in Connecticut about emerging crime trends,” Mascari said. “Providing data to law enforcement agencies quarterly will enable these agencies to adapt to emerging trends quickly.”
Sen. Herron Gaston, a Bridgeport Democrat who serves a co-chair of the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee
“It’s encouraging news to know that crime continues to fall in Connecticut, and I’m grateful to State Police for taking action and increasing the pace with which they release information,” said State Senator Herron Keyon Gaston (D-Bridgeport), Senate Chair of the Public Safety and Security Committee. “Having this information more frequently will help our state faster meet challenges should they occur in the future. In the present, it reassures us that crime continues to trend down in our state, though we need to keep working to make sure those trends move in the right direction.”
