New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
“The city’s crime rate (combined total of violent and property crimes) dropped 38% in New Bedford between 2011 and 2019, according to FBI data with the trend set to continue in 2020. The NBPD has already submitted preliminary crime data from 2020 to the FBI; once formally recorded by the FBI, the rate is expected to decline further in 2020.
The violent and property crimes category includes murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. These eight crimes serve as a common indicator of the nation’s crime experience because of their seriousness and frequency of occurrence.
Decline in Violent Crimes
Overall, violent crime has decreased 43% between 2011 and 2019; aggravated assaults are down 48%. Once 2020 data is confirmed, those numbers are expected to decline even further. New Bedford’s homicide rate has remained at 4 homicides on average over the past decade, lower when compared to similar sized cities in New England.
Decline in Property Crimes
Property crime has also decreased significantly in the past decade, by 37%.
A dramatic decline can also be seen in burglary and breaking and entering, which plummeted 52% from 969 crimes in 2011 to 465 crimes in 2019. Larceny theft has been cut almost in half from 2020 incidents in 2011 to 1,513 in 2019.
This does not include the 2020 figures, which are lower still, a trend that runs counter to the sharp increase in violent crime experienced by many cities during the pandemic.”
New Bedford Police Department photo.
