Murders and assaults in Minnesota dropped in 2024 while rapes and robberies rose, according to statistics released this week by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The 2024 Uniform Crime Report showed that violent crime in the seven-county Metro area — Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties — increased by 1% overall compared to 2023. In greater Minnesota, violent crime numbers decreased by 3%.
The number of murders continued to fall after a spike during the pandemic. There were 170 murders in 2024 compared with 181 in 2023, 182 in 2022 and 201 in 2021. Firearms were involved in 74.7% of the incidents, up from 69.6% in 2023.
The St. Paul Police Department handled 26 homicide incidents in 2024, the same as in 2023. So far this year St. Paul police have handled nine homicides.
The number of reported assaults statewide dropped from 9,986 in 2023 to 9,826 in 2024.
Carjacking incidents, which included attempted carjackings, increased 5.5 percent with 426 incidents in 2024, compared with 401 in 2023. There were 31 reported carjackings in St. Paul for 2024; Minneapolis saw 329 cases in 2024.
Reported rapes and robberies reversed their post-pandemic downward trends: Rapes rose from 2,053 in 2023 to 2,159 last year while robberies rose from 2,791 in 2023 to 2,836 in 2024. Rapes had been decreasing from their 2021 spike of 2,472. Robbery reports reached 3,991 in 2021.
Other details:
• Most of the rapes — 73.2% — occurred in a home. Minors accounted for 39.6% of the victims.
• Motor vehicle theft decreased 19.3% in 2024 with 12,596 vehicles stolen as compared with 15,612 in 2023 (carjacking incidents are counted separately from motor vehicle thefts).
• There were 70,898 incidents of larceny in 2024, the lowest number in 56 years, according to the BCA.
• Bias crimes rose in 2024 with 225 incidents reported.
• Peace officers were assaulted in 976 incidents in 2024, a 1.5% increase from 2023.
• Law enforcement use-of-force incidents involving discharge of a firearm rose in 2024 to 27, 10 more than in 2023.
• There were 32 overall use-of-force incidents, 11 more than the previous year. In those incidents, 12 people died and 15 resulted in a serious injury. Agencies reported using force on 18 white individuals, 13 Black and 1 Asian.
The full 2024 Uniform Crime Report can be found at dps.mn.gov/mn-crime-statistics, along with reports from previous years.
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