Derby police at the site of a shooting on Oct. 5, 2024 on Anson Street. No injuries were reported.
The crime rate dropped in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour, and Shelton between 2022 and 2023, according to a report released Wednesday (Oct. 30) by the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.
The crime rate in Beacon Falls increased slightly, but there were less than 80 incidents reported during the two years.
The “Crime in Connecticut” report shows Ansonia’s crime rate per 1,000 people dropped from 46.3 in 2022 to 42.4 in 2023.
The crime rate is calculated by taking the total number of incidents reported by police, dividing it by the town or city’s population, then multiplying the answer by 1,000.
In 2022, Ansonia police reported 868 crimes to the state. That number dropped to 805 in 2023.
In Derby, the crime rate dropped from 70.6 in 2022 to 64.7 per 1,000 people in 2023. That’s 864 reported crimes in 2022 compared to 802 in 2023.
Derby’s 2023 rate, while lower than 2022, ranks sixth in the state, behind East Haven (66.4), Hamden (66.9), New Britain (79), Hartford and Waterbury (81), and New Haven (109.3).
Seymour’s crime rate dropped from 22.5 in 2022 to 18.1 in 2023. That’s 374 incidents reported in 2022 versus 305 in 2023.
Definitions
The report has tons of information on crime statewide, from the number of reported incidents to the type of crime to a general description of where crime happens (such as house, highway or business).
Reported incidents collected in the report include:
Animal cruelty, arson, assault offenses (aggravated, simple, and intimidation), bribery, burglary, counterfeiting/forgery, destruction/damage/ vandalism of property, drug /narcotic offenses, embezzlement, extortion/blackmail, fraud offenses, gambling offenses, homicide offenses, human trafficking offenses, kidnapping/abduction, larceny/ theft offenses, motor vehicle theft, sex offenses, pornography/obscene material, prostitution offenses, robbery, stolen property, and weapons law violations.
The report includes the following crime only when arrests are made: curfew/loitering/ vagrancy; disorderly conduct; driving under the influence; non-violent family offenses; liquor law violations; trespass of real property, and all other (non-traffic) offenses.
The report (click here to download the report as a PDF) does not go into granular detail for each of the state’s 169 towns and cities.
However, in the report’s town by town section, the report groups crimes into three general categories:
“Crimes against persons,” such as murders, assaults and rapes (crimes where the victim is an individual)
“Crimes against property,” are crimes such as burglary, bribery, and robbery, where the goal is to get money or property, according to the report.
“Crimes against society” are crimes such as narcotic offenses, animal cruelty offenses, illegal gambling, or other acts that society prohibits.
The Stats
Ansonia 2022
Crime rate: 46.3
868 total crimes
288 crimes against persons
525 crimes against property
55 crimes against society
Ansonia 2023
Crime rate: 42.4
805 crimes
252 crimes against persons
471 crimes against property
82 crimes against society
Beacon Falls 2022
Crime rate: 5.1
31 crimes
7 crimes against persons
19 crimes against property
5 crimes against society
Beacon Falls 2023
Crime rate: 6.3
39 incidents
8 crimes against people
31 crimes against property
No crimes against society
Derby 2022
Crime rate: 70.6
864 crimes
227 crimes against persons
606 crimes against property
31 crimes against society
Derby 2023
Crime rate: 64.7
802 crimes
242 crimes against persons
530 crimes against property
30 crimes against society
Oxford 2022
Crime rate: 4.8
61 incidents
15 crimes against persons
45 crimes against property
1 crime against society
Oxford 2023
Crime rate: 4.0
53 crimes
19 crimes against persons
30 crimes against property
4 crimes against society
Seymour 2022
Crime rate: 22.5
374 crimes
142 crimes against persons
211 crimes against properties
21 crimes against society
Seymour 2023
Crime rate: 18.1
305 total crimes
111 crimes against persons
171 crimes against property
23 crimes against society
Shelton 2022
Crime rate: 18.7
788 crimes
146 crimes against persons
615 crimes against property
27 crimes against society
Shelton 2023
Crime rate: 14.6
622 crimes
97 crimes against persons
498 crimes against property
27 crimes against society
Reaction
Statewide crimes against people fell 3.8 percent – but property crimes jumped 11 percent. Crimes against society fell 2.2 percent.
In a press release, state officials said the crime rate in Connecticut is below most of the U.S., making Connecticut “one of the safest states in the nation.”
“While we still have a couple of months left to go in 2024, preliminary data from law enforcement for the current calendar year indicates positive trends are continuing to drive down crime in nearly every category,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.
Seymour Deputy Police Chief Michael Fappiano said the property crime increase statewide tracks, he said.
While the report shows a dip in property crimes in Seymour, Fappiano said it’s still an issue.
“For the most part it holds true. A lot of times these criminals are looking for opportunistic crimes – things that are easily accessible or readily available. We’re still seeing, like a lot of other municipalities, stolen cars as well as theft from motor vehicles,” Fappiano said.
The deputy chief also said that vehicle burglaries could be under-reported for two reasons:
One: a victim might not call police and, two: if nothing is stolen it might not meet the state’s reporting criteria.
Fappiano urged residents to lock their car doors and to not leave valuables in their vehicles.
“You’d be surprised how many cars are still unsecured at nighttime,” he said.
Fappiano also urged people to not leave their vehicles running without supervision – a habit that increases in the winter when people leave their cars idling to warm up in the morning, or at gas stations.
The Valley Indy reached out to Derby this week but did not hear back by 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31. The Ansonia police department’s spokesman was out of the area this week.
