Violent crime dropped in Minnesota in 2023 but remained above pre-pandemic levels: 5 things to know

Violent crime decreased in Minnesota for a second consecutive year in 2023, though it still remains above pre-pandemic levels overall, according to a new report from the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

That’s largely because law enforcement agencies are still responding to more aggravated assaults than they did before 2020, despite reports that murders have flatlined and rapes and robberies have steadily declined.

Overall, Minnesota registered a 6.9% drop in violent crime last year, according to the BCA’s latest Uniform Crime Report.

Violent crime in the seven-county metro area dropped by 8.2%, while violent crime in Minnesota outside the Twin Cities metro declined by 3.4%.

Law enforcement officials categorize murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault as violent crimes, while burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson are considered property crimes. Minnesota law enforcement agencies reported a 13.1% drop in property crime in 2023, sliding further below pre-pandemic levels.

Here are five things to know about the latest statewide and regional crime numbers:

Minnesota law enforcement agencies investigated 181 murders in 2023, one fewer than in 2022. The murder rate remains above that in 2019, when the BCA reported 117, and has hovered between 181 and 201 in the years since.

Aggravated assaults remain well above pre-pandemic levels. Agencies reported 6,742 such incidents in 2019, a figure that shot up in 2020 and peaked at 10,967 in 2021 before dipping slightly in 2022. Minnesota reported 9,986 assaults in 2023.

Statewide agencies reported 2,791 robberies in 2023, a drop of 475 from 2022. That particular crime spiked in 2020, when the BCA reported 3,885 robberies — 804 more than in 2019. Robberies climbed further in 2021 to 3,991, before dropping in 2022.

Minneapolis robberies comprised 862 of last year’s statewide total, according to the city’s crime dashboard. So far this year, Minneapolis police have reported 1,002 robberies.

Arson reports rose drastically after 2019, when the BCA reported 462 instances statewide. Arson peaked in 2021 at 716 and dropped to 628 in 2022, remaining essentially flat in 2023 at 626. Law enforcement officials cleared 24% of arsons last year, 15 of which involved juveniles.

Car thefts registered a notable drop in 2023 with 15,612 incidents reported across the state versus 16,743 in 2022. More than one-third of last year’s 5,432 thefts happened in Minneapolis, according to the city’s crime dashboard.

The statewide auto theft rate is higher than the 11,410 vehicle thefts that agencies registered in 2019. Agencies reported 72,701 instances of larceny, which the BCA says is a 55-year low. That category of crime has steadily declined since 2019, when the state reported 90,257.

Attacks on law enforcement officers spiked in 2023. Agencies reported 961 such instances involving 1,206 officers, a spike from the 859 incidents reported in 2022 in which 1,062 officers were assaulted. While 2022 represented a drop from the 900 incidents reported in 2021, that’s still higher than the 413 assaults law enforcement agencies reported in 2019.

One law enforcement officer died on the job in 2023, according to the BCA: Pope County Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Owen, who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance.

This year is shaping up to be one of the deadliest for Minnesota law enforcement officers in recent history. Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell was shot and killed in late May, and two officers and a paramedic/firefighter were fatally shot in Burnsville in February.

Minnesota law enforcement agencies reported 21 use-of-force incidents in 2023, the same number as in 2022. Officers injured 16 people in those incidents, seven of them fatally. Seven incidents were initiated because officers were serving a warrant and five were responses to an aggravated assault.

Federal law requires an agency to report use-of-force when it results in a death or serious bodily injury. Agencies must also report any use of force to the FBI if an officer shoots at or toward someone.

Minnesota agencies reported 12 fatalities in 2021. Among the other findings in the BCA’s use-of-force report:

• Law enforcement officers shot 16 people in 2023. Electric weapons such as Tasers were used on four people.

• Of the 22 people on which law enforcement officials used force, two were juveniles. Five were between ages 18 and 24, and seven were between 25 and 34.

• The vast majority of those subjects were men, 20.

• Most of those subjects, 12, were white. Seven were Black, one was Asian, and two were American Indian and Alaska Native.