WDM Crime in 2005 vs 2006

Now that we are well into 2007, many City departments have had a chance to finish collecting and analyzing data from 2006 regarding their operations. Here are some items I found interesting from the Police Department Part I Offenses Report from 2006. The entire report can be found on the Police Department section of our website under News items.


For 2005, West Des Moines reported a total of 1969 Part I offenses. Part I offenses, established as such by the FBI, include willful homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. By convention, the total number of these eight offenses serves as the basis for calculating a city’s overall crime rate. In 2006, this number increased by 31 (2%) to 2000 offenses.

West Des Moines had 70 violent crimes reported in all of 2005, and this number increased by just 3 reports (4%) to 73 for 2006. Nationwide for the first 6 months of 2006, FBI statistics showed an increase in violent crimes of 3.7%.

There were 1927 crimes against property in 2006 compared to 1899 in 2005, an increase of 28 (1%). Larceny represents the majority of crimes against property in 2006, with 1606 reports. Included in this report is a breakout of these larcenies by type. Nationwide, FBI statistics showed a decrease in crimes against property during the first six months of 2006 of 2.6%. The chart below demonstrates the two year comparison by category.




The overall crime rate in West Des Moines for the entire year of 2006 for Part I offenses was approximately 38.65 offenses occurring for every 1000 residents. The violent crime rate for 2006 was 1.41 per 1000, while the property crime rate was 37.24 per 1000. The national crime rate for Part I offenses per 1000 for 2005 was approximately 35.17, with the national violent crime rate at 4.69. The 2005 crime rate for the state of Iowa was 2.91 per 1000 for violent crime, and 28.34 per 1000 for property crime.

Here are a few interesting statistics from the report:

• There were 71 reports of motor vehicle thefts reported, two more (3%) than reported in 2005. Recovery of the vehicle was made 72% of the reports. Several vehicles were located in other Iowa locations and one vehicle was located in Kentucky.


• Nationally the Honda Accord, Civic and Toyota Camry are the most frequently stolen vehicles. In Iowa, the vehicles most likely to be stolen are full size Ford and Chevrolet pickups.


• During 2005, the Midwest clearance rate for motor vehicle thefts was only 13.0%. West Des Moines experienced a clearance rate of 59% for stolen motor vehicle reports in 2005.


• Burglaries of commercial/office buildings, apartment garage buildings, residential locations and schools decreased from 2005, while burglaries of construction sites increased.