HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Crime rates in
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
are lower than in the United States as a whole and have fallen significantly over the past decade, according to the 2021 Crime in Connecticut Report. This pattern holds true overall, and for most types of crime.


Statistics

The total offense rate in Connecticut is 1,718 offenses per 100,000 (as of 2021), considerably below the national rate of 2,329 per 100,000. The report also includes Crime Index statistics, used to compare across states, which is based on the rates of several crimes against persons (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault), and several property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft). The Crime Index fell by 30 percent in Connecticut from 2012 to 2021, from 87,853 crimes to 61,070. Violent crime rates in Connecticut are at their lowest point since 1974. The rate is less than half the national rate: 167 per 100,000 residents in Connecticut, compared to a national rate of 396 per 100,000 residents. As of 2020, Connecticut has the fifth lowest rate of violent crime of U.S. states and territories, behind Maine, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Vermont.FBI — Crime Data Explorer
/ref> And the rate of violent crime fell over 40 percent between 2012 and 2021 (from 289 to 167 per 100,000), whereas the national violent crime rate did not change significantly over that period. Property crimes have also fallen over the past decade. In 2010, 78,386 property crimes and 10,057 violent crimes, including 130 instances of
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
and 583 instances of
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
were reported. In 2015, property crimes had fallen slightly, to 73,703, and violent crimes had fallen significantly, to 7,925 violent crimes (a decline of 22%). The decline continued through 2017, as reported in Connecticut's Uniform Crime Report. According to the report, 8,186 violent crimes were committed, of which 105 were homicides, 831 were rapes, 2,819 were robberies and 4,431 were aggravated assaults.


Notable incidents

Notable events related to crime in Connecticut include:


Cheshire home invasion murders

The Cheshire home invasion murders of three people occurred on July 23, 2007. Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters were raped and murdered by the two invaders, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky. Hawke-Petit's husband, Dr. William Petit, was beaten unconscious but survived. The two perpetrators received death sentences in 2010 and 2012 respectively but were resentenced in 2015, when Connecticut abolished the death penalty. Steven Hayes wa
resentenced in 2016 to six life terms in prison
In 2017, Joshua Komisarjevsky and his lawyers filed a motion with the state Supreme Court for a new trial, claiming judicial errors during the pre-trial process.


Hartford Distributors shooting

The Hartford Distributors shooting on August 3, 2010, was a mass shooting at a beer distribution company in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, Connecticut. 34-year-old former employee Omar Thornton fatally shot 8 coworkers and injured 2 others with a Ruger SR9
semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...
. After hiding in an office, Thornton called 911 and told the operator that he was motivated by alleged racism he had experienced in the workplace. As police closed in, Thornton committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.


Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting

At approximately 9:30 a.m. on December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot twenty school children and six school employees before committing suicide at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Lanza had murdered his mother, who worked in the school, prior to the shooting. This incident remains one of the deadliest
mass shootings in the United States Mass shootings are incidents involving multiple victims of Gun violence in the United States, firearm related violence. Definitions vary, with no single, broadly accepted definition. One definition is an act of public firearm violence—exclud ...
, with the fourth-highest gunshot victim fatalities for a single shooting in U.S. history.


The murder of Helle Crafts

The 1986
Murder of Helle Crafts Helle Crafts (; born Helle Lorck Nielsen; July 7, 1947 – November 19, 1986) was a Danish flight attendant who was murdered by her husband, Eastern Air Lines pilot Richard Crafts. Her death led to the state of Connecticut's first murder convic ...
, a Danish flight attendant murdered by her husband, American Richard Crafts, in Newtown, Connecticut, was notable for the method in which Richard disposed of her body using a
woodchipper A tree chipper or woodchipper is a machine used for reducing wood (generally tree limbs or trunks) into smaller woodchips. They are often portable, being mounted on wheels on frames suitable for towing behind a truck or van. Power is general ...
. It was also the case that lead to Connecticut’s first conviction of a murder without a body.


Capital punishment

Between 1616 and 2005, 126 people were sentenced to death and executed in Connecticut. In April 2012, Governor
Dannel Malloy Dannel Patrick Malloy (; born July 21, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. In Ju ...
signed an order to abolish the death penalty; Connecticut was the 17th state in the nation to do so. Inmates formerly sentenced to death had their sentences reduced to life imprisonment without parole. Connecticut was the fifth state to abolish the death penalty between 2007 and 2012.


Cities with highest crime rates

According to a 2014 FBI Uniform Crime Report, the Connecticut cities with the most violent crimes were
Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...
(1,338),
New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
(1,380) and
Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
(1,380). Possible reasons for the higher crime rates in these cities include their larger populations and widespread poverty.


Juvenile system

Connecticut has a state-level system that includes juvenile courts, detention centers, private facilities, and juvenile correctional facilities. After juveniles are released, they receive help from the Court Support Services Division of the Connecticut Judicial Branch and from the Department of Children and Family Services. Criminal statutes for juveniles and adults are the same. However, if the offender is under the age of 16, they will be sent to a juvenile detention center and transferred over to Adult Court once they turn 16. State assistance for juvenile offenders has a number of objectives: to lower the rate of repeat offending in the community, provide offender rehabilitation, and help offenders understand the consequences of their actions. Police officers who encounter juveniles breaking the law may warn them, talk to their parents, offer organizations that can provide them with assistance, and/or make an arrest. Underage offenders who are arrested must attend a hearing in front of a judge at a superior court who will decide whether or not to send them to a detention center.


Marijuana laws

Cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...
is
legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...
in Connecticut. Residents over the age of 21 can legally possess and consume marijuana. Possession of 1.5 oz of cannabis is legal. All adults can grow up to three mature and three immature plants at home, with a cap of twelve total plants per household.


See also

* Donna Lee Bakery murders * Lorne J. Acquin * Michael Bruce Ross * Murder of Martha Moxley


External links


Chilling Connecticut crimes
CT Post


References

{{CrimeUS