Cambridge Sees Small Uptick in Violent Crimes in 2015

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Bucking statewide results, Cambridge recorded a small, nearly across-the-board increase in violent crime in 2015, according to new numbers compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Like the rest of the state and neighboring Boston, Cambridge saw its population grow between 2014 and 2015. But unlike the rest of the state and the nearby urban center, reports of violent crime in Cambridge ticked upward in 2015.

Numbers in the FBI's newly released 2015 Uniform Crime Report recorded 2 additional murders, two more rapes, and 31 more cases of aggravated assault, compared with 2014.

However, the number of robberies reported and documented by the FBI increased, dipped from 90 in 2014 to 82 in 2015.

Statewide, Massachusetts saw a decrease across every category of violent crime, except for aggravated assault.

Mass. Violent Crime Totals Rise in 2015; Murders, Rapes, Robberies Decline

Patch has included the 2015 totals for Cambridge in the table below:

In 2014, the same FBI numbers showed 301 incidents of violent crime in the city.

Property crime—which includes burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft and arson—also ever so slightly increased in 2015, the UCR data show. In 2014, the FBI reported 2,607 incidents of property crime; in 2015, that number was 2,616.

Patch is focusing for the purposes of this piece a year-over-year comparison, as well as a quick look at state versus local numbers for the years noted above. These data in isolation should not be considered a trend.

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