Property crime in Oregon plunged 16.6% from 2005 to 2006, according to data recently released by the FBI. In its annual report about crime across the country, Oregon showed one of the steepest declines in property crime, including drops of 15% in the Eugene area and 18% in the Portland area.

Continuing a decline that started back in 1987 when property crimes touched 200 out of every 10,000 Oregonians, the per capita rate is now down to 77 crimes per 10,000 residents. This decline comes on the heels of a 5% drop in property crime from 2004 to 2005.

Crime is also dropping in each of Oregon’s three largest cities. Eugene saw the biggest decline, with property crime dropping 18% from 2005 to 2006. Portland saw its property crime decrease 15% and Salem, the state’s capitol, recorded an 8% drop in property crimes.

The decline in property crime in Oregon exceeds that of the nation in general, but most states are showing some declines in property crimes. Experts in Oregon believe several factors – including Oregon’s increasing job growth and one of the nation’s highest minimum wages – as two factors behind the decline in crime.

“As economic opportunities and wages increase, we’re bound to see declines in property crimes as people are able to support themselves without the constant insecurity about food, shelter, health care and basic living essentials,” said David Rogers, executive director of the Partnership for Safety and Justice.

The news comes at a time when Kevin Mannix, a four-time loser for statewide office, has turned in signatures on an initiative that would require mandatory sentences for property and drug crimes. The estimated price tag of Mannix’s measures is up to $400 million per biennium, further increasing a state prison system that has the third fastest rate of growth in the country.

“What is clear from these new figures is that we’re doing a good job of reducing property crimes and making our communities safer without building three or four new prisons and without locking up non-violent drug and property offenders for up to three years, as we will have to do under the Mannix Measure,” said Rogers. “We’re on a path to improved public safety that focuses on treatment, education opportunities and jobs, a much less expensive and more effective way to combat crime than mandatory sentences and costly prison sentences.”

You can view the state-by state crime statistics here. [1]

This is the link to historical Oregon trends in burglary.  [2]