Las Vegas Metro has yet to publish its crime statistics for 2015. However, data for the six-year period between 2009 and 2014 are readily available and show an overall upward trend.
In 2014, murder led the hit parade, with 111 homicides representing a 23% increase over 2013. Also on the rise was rape, with 780 reported, a 9% uptick, while a staggering 7,089 cases of aggravated assault also represented a 9% uptick. Robbery was also very much on the increase, with 4,885 occurrences representing a 19% growth. Auto thefts – 7,172 – were also on the rise, by 7%.
But there was some good news as well. Burglary was down 5%, with 14,150 reported. Larceny theft fell 13%, to 23,432. On a per capita basis, however, larceny theft was the worst category, with 1,790 per 100,000 residents.
Backing up to the beginning of the reporting period, in 2009, there were 111 homicides, 699 rapes, 7,735 aggravated assaults, 4,494 robberies, 13,512 burglaries, 25,229 cases of larceny, and 8,927 auto thefts.
The following year, crime was generally on the wane despite economic hard times in Sin City: 106 cases of murder and non-negligent manslaughter (down 4%), 652 rapes (down 5%), 4,003 robberies (a decline of 9%), 22,231 larceny thefts (down 10%) and 7,164 auto thefts (a drop of 18%). The only increases were aggravated assault (7,886, up 4%) and burglary (13,824, up 3%).
In 2011, the murder rate dropped a significant 28%, with 79 cases. In fact, crime was down across the board, with 651 rapes (-3%), 6,587 aggravated assaults (-19%), 3,493 robberies (-15.5%), 12,662 burglaries (-11%), 21,997 larceny thefts (-4%), and 6,787 auto thefts (-8%). Unfortunately, this was a short-lived trend. In 2012, aggravated assaults rose 9%, to 7,102, while robberies were up 10%, with 3,824 reported. Burglary rose 13%, to 14,220, and larceny theft jumped 17%, to 25,522. The bright spots were drops in the murder rate (77, -2%), rape (596, -8%) and auto theft (6,685, -1%).
Crime continued to worsen in 2013, as the Las Vegas economy improved and visitation began climbing toward record numbers. There were 97 incidences of murder, a 21% surge, and 705 rapes, a 14% increase. Aggravated assault was 12% down, to a mere 6,500, but robbery was 2% up, to 4,072, and burglary rates were flat, with 14,785 reported. Larceny theft also held steady, at 26,548, while auto thefts actually fell 5%, to 6,635.
As a percentage of overall crime, homicide, at two tenths of a percent, was the least of Metro’s problems. Of 57,629 police calls, rape accounted for 1%, 12% were for aggravated assault, burglary was 25.5%, and larceny theft 41%. Burglary contributed another 8.5% and auto theft 12.5%.
As for casino crime, we turned to Karl Bennison, chief of the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s Enforcement Division. He replied, "Generally speaking, as far as criminal cases worked, we had a downward trend for the last few years, until last year, when there was a slight uptick. However, that’s total criminal cases worked, which includes embezzlement, underage gambling, counterfeit currency, and many other types of cases. Our cheating and fraud acts cases generally followed the same trend.
"Many factors play into the numbers of cheating incidents. The licensees [casinos] have discretion on whether or not to detain a suspected cheater—they can call us to investigate, trespass [forcibly remove] them, or just ask them to leave. So there are incidents of cheating in the state we are not notified of.
"Also changes in technology impact the number and types of cases we work. An example would be when the majority of slot machines went from coin to ticket-in ticket-out. The table-games types of cheating incidents have been the most consistent over time, as they have involved, generally speaking, the same chips, cards, dice, etc.
"I hope I’ve given your readers some insight."
We hope so, too.
