93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
Violent crime went up quite a bit in Columbia last year.
Newly-released FBI data shows 610 of those crimes in 2017, compared to 517 the previous year. That covers murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. It’s also above average for the last couple decades in Columbia, even when adjusting for a growing population.
The nine murders in 2017 ties for the most since at least 1986. Robberies were down, but rapes and aggravated assaults increased.
Property crimes like larceny, motor vehicle theft, and burglary were up a little from a 20-year low in 2016, but still well below average. Motor vehicle thefts have been on a six-year increase though.
See more Columbia crime data through Uniform Crime Reporting here.
This is the very reason I moved out of Columbia. I moved to Columbia over 20 years ago and crime got worse as each passing year went by. Where I lived in Columbia wasn’t rich and fancy but apartment and location to work fit my needs. I lived there for over 10 years, but again things became very different, so I finally decided to move, which I did. I still live in Boone County, but I can walk around the block without being harassed, and leave my door open and open my blinds to see and feel the sunshine during the spring and summer, which I would never have done in Columbia. I am a female that lives alone and being nervous all the time is not an option. Columbia needs to hire more police personnel to give complete coverage of Columbia, not just certain streets and areas.