Whitney M. Woodworth

Statesman Journal

Salem's violent crime rate increased in 2015, although it remained lower than the national average. The city's property crime rate continued to be much higher than the national rate, although it declined by almost 6 percent.

Statewide, Oregon reported 99 murders and non-negligent homicides. At 2.5 per 100,000 people, the state's murder rate remained lower than the national average and a far cry from Oregon's record-high, 1980s rates. But 2015's numbers were up from the 84 murders reported the previous year.

The rate varied from city to city, according to FBI data. With two homicides in 2014 and five in 2015, the murder rate in Salem more than doubled to 3.06 per 100,000 people.

A gang-related attack, two fatal shootings at separate Salem strip clubs and the slaying of a former National Guard soldier numbered among Salem's five homicides in 2015.

Four of the homicides took place within a two-week span in July 2015, said Lt. Dave Okada, a Salem police spokesman. The unrelated shootings shocked the city.

“We’ve had a lot of people asking, ‘What’s going on?’ " Okada told the Statesman in 2015. “This is scary for a community like Salem that’s not used to this.”

Salem Police Chief Jerry Moore assured residents that none of the shootings resulted from "stranger-to-stranger" violence, and said that detectives worked tirelessly to identify all those involved.

Okada labelled the two-week spike in shootings as "highly unusual." In a population such as that in Salem, four homicides make a big difference in the murder rate, he said.

Another recent string in shooting deaths this September also has many residents unnerved.

"I have never been so scared in my life," one reader wrote after a drive-by shooting in northeast Salem left one man dead and a teen arrested.

Less than a week earlier, a Salem man shot and killed a 20-year-year woman, his ex-girlfriend who had filed a restraining order against him, and fled to Washington.

A Salem man was killed after a confrontation near Wallace Marine Park in West Salem in the early morning hours of Sept. 7.

Arrests were made in connection to all three deaths.

"I grew up in the Salem area," wrote another reader. "What the hell is going on in Salem lately?"

Although the city's homicide rate was higher than the state's, it remained lower than Portland (5.38), Coos Bay (18.68) and similarly-sized Springfield, Missouri (5.99).

Multi-victim murders can easily double the homicide rate of a region with fewer violent crimes. A triple homicide at a blueberry farm outside Woodburn in June ensured Marion County Sheriff's Office would surpass its previous year's total of two murders.

While the nation faced an increase in other violent crimes, Oregon saw a decline in rapes and robberies. Even with the population growing by almost 60,000, fewer rapes and robberies were reported.

Property crime rates also dropped at the city, state and national level. The national trend marked the 13th straight year of decline in property offenses. Victims of property crimes, excluding arson, suffered an estimated $14.3 billion in losses in 2015.

While burglaries and larcenies lessened, motor vehicle thefts continued to climb. Stolen vehicle reports in Salem increased by 10 percent to 711 thefts. Some areas, including Polk County, saw an across-the-board increase in all property crime categories. The Polk County Sheriff's Office recently reinstated 24-hour patrols. The county had cut back to 10-hour patrols in 2014 due to lack of funding.

Both Salem's and the state's property crime rates remain well above the national average.

Oregon was not the only state to see a resurgence in violent crimes. The majority of states faced higher homicides rates. Some, including Minnesota and Washington, D.C., dealt with 50 percent more murders in 2015.

With almost 16,000 murders and non-negligent homicides, more than 124,000 rapes and almost three-quarters of a million aggravated assaults in 2015, the United States saw an across-the-board increase in violent crimes.

At 4.9 per 100,000, the murder rate increased 10 percent nationwide — its first spike after more than two decades of decline.

Earlier this year, FBI Director James B. Comey suggested the increase in violence may be the result of police officers’ fear of the “viral video effect.” Fearful of being recorded and scorned, officers may be less likely to confront suspects and prevent crime, he said.

The Associated Press reported that Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the report demonstrated the amount of work still needed to be done.

"And it is important to remember that while crime did increase overall last year, 2015 still represented the third-lowest year for violent crime in the past two decades," she added.

Details emerge from triple fatal shooting near Woodburn

Email wmwoodwort@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth

By the numbers

Violent crime rate (per 100,000 people)

Salem

2014: 311.7

2015: 328.8

Oregon

2014: 259.2

2015: 259.8

United States

2014: 372

2015: 383.2

Property Crime Rate (per 100,000)

Salem:

2014: 4,339.4

2015: 4,082.2

Oregon

2014: 3,100.9

2015: 2,946.6

United States

2014: 2,574.1

2015: 2,487

Source: FBI Crime in the United States 2015