Columbus violent crime stats follow national trend
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Crime statistics for 2024 from cities across the country show an overall 4.5% decrease in violent crime from 2023.
The statistics, compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), are based on voluntarily reported statistics from law enforcement agencies across the country.
“I think we've come a long way,” former FBI agent Harry Trombitas said. “We're getting better.”
He said the data shows Columbus' crime rate is going down, specifically with homicides. The city previously reported a 17% drop in homicides year to date.
“I think they're trying to really do a good job of taking a look at the crimes that are occurring and addressing those through proactive patrolling, you know,” Trombitas said. “Community involvement, I know, has been a big thing.”
Nationwide, the FBI is reporting an 8.1% decrease in property crimes. Trombitas highlighted that Columbus’ stats are following suit, with a decrease in property crimes such as motor vehicle theft.
“We were having some real issues with, I know, in Columbus, with stolen vehicles and that appears to have gone down last year,” he said. “That could be an indication that some of the things that we're trying to educate people on are actually taking effect.”
Trombitas believes Columbus has the right focus, but there is always room for improvement.
“We hope that the information that we release is used by local communities, local police agencies, to help them design proactive approaches and things that they can do to help reduce crime,” he said. “I mean, that's, you know, collecting statistics is fine, but if you're just going to leave them, sit there and you're not going to do anything with it, I mean, you're not learning.”
A phrase often used by city leaders is “we want to be the safest big city in America." Trombitas said that based on the data, it appears the city is meeting that goal.
“I think we've come a long way, we’re getting better,” he said. “I think we're focusing on the right things again -- community involvement, proactive policing, all those things are doing what we can do. You know, it's like we, as people, you should want to be the best you can be.”
Trombitas did want to note that not every agency reports their numbers to the FBI due to a software issue, so the national numbers can be a little flawed. He said that in 2021, the FBI switched to a new system which some have not yet adopted.
“The problem is a lot of agencies are transitioning from the old system to the new and so we don't have 100% of the agencies nationwide reporting,” Trombitas said. “Matter of fact, somewhere around 90% of all eligible agencies report crimes, and that covers roughly 95% of the population in our country. But we've got big cities like New York, L.A., Philadelphia that don't report their crimes or have very limited reporting. So nationally, if you're looking for, you know, a lot of oomph, if you will, out of it, yes, it appears as though crime rates are going down. But until we get, you know, the big cities on board and, you know, complete coverage and reporting by all the cities, eligible cities, and that, you know, it's still circumspect to some degree.”
Columbus police did report a technological issue last year with submitting statistics, but it has since been addressed.
To read the full FBI report, click here.