The Idaho State Police Uniform Crime Reporting Program recently released it’s crime report for 2021.
The statistics track crimes that occur in Group A offenses, which includes crimes against persons, crimes against property and crimes against society. Arrest data represents the number of people arrested, not those charged with a crime.
While the overall crime numbers in the state were down last year, locally, both Nez Perce and Latah counties each showed increases.
Nez Perce County’s crime rate is sixth among Idaho’s 44 counties and is also ranked third in the arrest rate, up from fifth in 2020. This year, Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office was second in state arrests with 7,164, but was first in 2020. However, offenses in Nez Perce County only increased by just over 7% with 2,252 cases compared to 2,104 from 2020. The most common offense was larceny or theft with 580 reported cases.
In Latah County, the number of offenses increased by nearly 12% to 1,234 and in 2020 there were 1,102. Of those cases, 390 were larceny or theft, making them the highest number of offenses.
Lewis County had a 5.1% decrease in its crime rate with 93 offenses in 2021 compared to 98 in 2020. The most common offense was simple assault with 23 cases.
Clearwater County has 34.3% of the population reporting to the program, so numbers from the county are missing reports from the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office. However, the Orofino Police Department reported a 51.6% drop in its crime rate from 180 offenses in 2020 to 87 in 2021.
Idaho County has 5.7% of the population reporting to the program, with only the Cottonwood Police Department reporting six offenses, which was the same as in 2020.
The crime rate per 100,000 population for the state of Idaho is 293.7, which is the ninth lowest in the country. Washington ranks 16th lowest at 293.7. The District of Columbia is the highest at 999.8 and Maine is the lowest at 108.6. (Lewiston Tribune, Idaho State Police)
