Las Vegas violent crime below national average

Violent crime is up in major cities across the nation, according to new research from the Major Cities Chiefs Association. But data from the Metropolitan Police Department shows a smaller increase compared with national averages.

The study analyzed violent crimes, including homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assault, in 70 cities across the country, comparing numbers at the end of June 2019 with data halfway through 2022.

Nationwide, homicides increased 50 percent in the three-year period, and aggravated assaults increased 36 percent, according to the study.

“It was a combination of factors,” said the group’s executive director, Laura Cooper. “The amount of illegal guns on the streets in major urban areas is highly problematic, prohibited possessors of those guns. … Social media beefs are playing out on the streets, and people are very quick to pull the trigger.”

Cooper said chiefs across the country noticed more juveniles involved in crimes recently. The researchers said children had fewer positive role models when schools and after-school programs were forced to close during the pandemic.

Data maintained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal showed that Metro investigated 46 percent more homicides by the end of June 2022 compared with the same time in 2019. Review-Journal data differs from Metro’s because it includes accidental, self-defense and police killings.

Metropolitan Police Department data showed rape cases decreased by one-third over the three-year period, and robbery investigations were down 20 percent.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Henderson noticed an increase in robberies this year because of confrontations with employees.

“Any form of force or fear elevates to a robbery,” Lombardo said in an interview this month. “When they get confronted by employees in a gas station or a quickie mart, they use force on the employees, or they’ve said they’re going to pull a gun and shoot them. That elevates to a robbery.”

Henderson police did not respond to an inquiry for this story.

Aggravated assaults, which were up one-third nationwide since 2019, were up 3.6 percent in Las Vegas, according to Metro data.

“We’ve been very proactive in the aggravated assault space,” Lombardo said. “Usually, if you don’t pay attention to it, it will aggravate to homicide.”

This year, Metro data showed a 3 percent increase in total crime compared with this time last year, but violent crime was down 4 percent.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.