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Jill Oliveira  651-793-2726
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September 21, 2020
BCA Releases 2019 Uniform Crime Report

​ST. PAUL —The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has released the 2019 Uniform Crime Report. Local law enforcement agencies must report their crime data each year to the BCA to meet state and federal reporting requirements. The BCA compiles the data into an annual report and provides required data to the FBI for its reporting purposes.

Notable statistics in this year’s report:

  • In 2019, Minnesota recorded a 4.7 percent increase in Part 1 crimes. Violent crimes, including murder, robbery, and aggravated assault, all increased over the 2018 totals.
  • Property crimes, including burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson, also increased by 5.2 percent overall. There were 117,864 property crimes in 2019 - 5,865 more than the preceding year. Arson and motor vehicle theft jumped 8 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
  • There are increasing rates of bias crime being reported with 146 cases in 2019, an increase of 19 over cases reported in 2018. Forty-nine of the 2019 cases were directed at Black or African Americans, more than three times the next most frequent group.
  • There were 25 officer involved shootings reported in 2019, an increase of three from 2018, a majority of which occurred in Greater Minnesota.

"The best way to respond to the increasing rate of crime in Minnesota is for police and the communities they serve to work together.  21st Century policing methods will help us work to prevent crime and keep the peace in our One Minnesota,” Commissioner John Harrington said.

Violent Crimes

2019​ ​2018 ​2017 ​2016 ​2015
M​urder 117 ​104 ​114 ​100 ​130
Rape​ ​2,431 ​2,666 ​2,429 ​2,321 ​2,300
​Robbery ​3,081 ​2,943 ​3,645 ​3,725 ​3,764
Aggra​vated Assault​ ​6,742 ​6,693 ​7,115 ​7,026 ​6,981
​Human Trafficking - Commercial Sex Acts* ​128 ​183 ​173 ​235 ​119
​Human Trafficking - Involuntary Servitude^ ​10 ​0 ​0 ​0 ​0
 

Property crimes

​2019 ​2018 ​2017 ​2016 ​2015
​Burglary ​15,735 ​16,097 ​18,749 ​18,464 ​19,195
Larceny​​ ​90,257 ​85,394 ​93,455 ​89,924 ​94,392
Motor vehicle theft​ ​11,410 ​10,082 ​9,960 ​8,649 ​7,921
​Arson ​462 ​426 ​534 ​497 ​580
 

Additional crime data reported to the BCA

2019​ ​2018 ​2017 ​2016 ​2015
Homicide cleared by arrest ​ ​64% ​77% ​74% ​74% ​78%
Drug abuse violation cleared by arrest​ ​88% ​85% ​85% ​85% ​83%
Drug abuse violation arrest for Opiates, Heroin, Cocaine, etc.​ ​2,684 ​2,683 ​2,315 ​1,700 ​1,800
​Bias motivated incidents ​146 ​127 ​147 ​122 ​96

 

Use of Force Data Collection

The FBI established a collection of data on law enforcement use-of-force incidents in 2018. Local law enforcement agencies were asked to voluntarily provide specific information about their incidents for inclusion in the FBI’s national data collection, including the race, gender and age of the person and the officer, type of force used and resistance encountered. 2019 was the first full year of data collection.

The BCA supports the FBI’s efforts to compile this information and encourages local agency participation in this effort. To facilitate the reporting, the BCA developed a centralized process for agencies to provide data to the BCA. The data are then compiled and submitted it to the FBI. The data received for 2019 represents 76.3 percent of Minnesota law enforcement officers, which is significantly higher than the 40.4 percent national total for the year.

Minnesota agencies reported 37 use-of-force incidents.

  • 11 during which a person died
  • 11 incidents resulting in a person being unconscious
  • 7 gunshot injury incidents
  • 6 non-injury incidents
  • 2 resulting in serious injury requiring medical attention

Agencies reported the following race information for use-of-force incidents.

  • White (16)
  • Black (13)
  • American Indian (3)
  • Asian (2)
  • Unknown/Not Reported (2)
  • Pending Further Investigation (1)

The complete 2019 Uniform Crime Report can be viewed on the BCA website. Additional years’ reports can be found on the same page.

Definitions and explanations

⁺  Includes offenses where a person was induced by fraud or coercion to participate in commercial sex acts, or in which the person induced to perform such act(s) has not attained 18 years of age.

^  Includes offenses where a person(s) is obtained through recruitment, harboring, transportation, or provision and subjected by force, fraud, or coercion into involuntary servitude, peonage, debt, bondage, or slavery.

About the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) provides investigative and specialized law enforcement services to prevent and solve crimes in partnership with law enforcement, public safety and criminal justice agencies. Services include criminal justice training, forensic laboratory analysis, criminal histories and investigations.

About the Minnesota Department of Public Safety

DPS comprises 10 divisions where 2,100 employees operate programs in the areas of law enforcement, crime victim assistance, traffic safety, alcohol and gambling, emergency communications, fire safety, pipeline safety, driver licensing, vehicle registration and emergency management. DPS activity is anchored by three core principles: education, enforcement and prevention.

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