FBI stats: Violent crime in Columbia was down in 2012
According to the 2012 annual crime statistics released by the FBI, Boone County violent crime increased between 2011 and 2012, while Columbia crime dropped.
Numbers in 2012 and 2010 are comparable for Boone County and saw a drop to more normal levels in 2011.
For Columbia, 2012 violent crime numbers for last year dropped by more than 100 incidents compared to the year before.
In 2011, Columbia reported 582 violent crimes, which include homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
In 2012, there were 106 less violent crimes reported within city limits, almost all in the aggravated assault category.
But that’s not the case for Boone County.
Violent crimes reported in Boone County were up by 24 incidents in 2012, compared with 2011.
Aggravated assaults jumped from 74 the previous year to 97 last year.
With recent gun crime in Columbia, ABC 17 News asked people in the community for their reaction to these numbers.
“I would think that the city would be higher than the county, but yeah, I guess it’s the surrounding area that’s worse,” one resident told ABC 17 News.
“I feel pretty safe downtown, and just anywhere else probably,” another resident said.
“Obviously, you know, it’s more dense here in the city than it would be out in the county, but there’s crime anywhere so it just depends on the area and the people that are there,” said a resident.
