Connecticut’s violent-crime rate plummeted in 2014 to a near 50-year low, state and federal authorities say.
The state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and the governor’s office Monday announced new FBI annual crime report data showing Connecticut’s overall crime rate dropped 9.7 percent last year. It was the fourth largest drop in violent crime nationally, authorities said.’
That was on top of a 10.1 percent descent in the state’s violent-crime rate in 2013, officials said.
“We are making extraordinary strides in Connecticut, with crime at almost a 50-year low and violent crime dropping dramatically each year,’’ Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement, hailing the FBI’s state crime report.. “We’re being smart on crime – and it’s working.”
Highlights of FBI’s 2014 Connecticut crime report:
- In states with a population of more than 1.3 million people, Connecticut saw the biggest drop in violent crime of any state in the nation.
- Violent crime in Connecticut during 2014 decreased an overall 9.7 percent, which includes a 5.5 percent decrease in murders, a 12.2 percent decrease in rape, an 11 percent decrease in robberies, and an 8.4 percent decrease in aggravated assaults.
- Although violent crimes have largely held steady in Connecticut since 2000, the state has experienced a 15 percent drop over the last two years alone.
- Nonviolent property crimes have also decreased in the state during 2014, including a 7.6 percent drop in burglaries, a 2.1 percent drop in larcenies, and a 2.1 percent drop in motor vehicle thefts.
- The total number of index crimes reported for Connecticut in 2014 is the lowest total since 1967.
- Seventeen states experienced an increase in violent crime over the last year.
