According to a press release from the Aurora Police Department, crime in Aurora last year was something of a mixed bag.
While murders, robberies and property crimes fell significantly, criminal sexual assaults and aggravated assaults and batteries spiked.
Overall, the Aurora Police Department responded to 119,035 calls for service, and answered more than 226,000 emergency and non-emergency, telephone calls in 2021.
Murders dropped from 11 to 6 in 2021, a 45.5% decrease from 2020.
Shootings, including incidents where no one was struck, dropped from 154 to 105 in 2021, a 32% decrease from 2020.
Robberies dropped from 78 to 59, a 24% decrease from 2020.
Motor Vehicle Thefts dropped from 78 to 59 in 2021, a 10% decrease from 2020.
Total Part 1 crimes in Aurora dropped from 2,971 to 2,702 in 2021 – a 9.1% decrease from 2020.
The city did, however, see an increase in Criminal Sexual Assault reports and Aggravated Assaults and Batteries in 2021.
Criminal Sexual Assaults increased from 68 to 135 in 2021, a 98.5% increase from 2020.
In 2020, a change to the state statute removed the statute of limitations for criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse for victims of any age. This means a victim can file charges against his or her offender within any timeframe, not just within a certain number of years after the alleged crime took place.
Previously, a sexual assault victim had to take legal action within 10 years of the offense, if the victim reported the offense to police within three years after the commission of the crime.
Aggravated Assaults and Batteries increased from 502 to 513 in 2021, a 2.2% increase from 2020.
APD did see an increase of domestic battery incidents in 2020 and 2021 as many people spent more time at home with their abusers and as families suffered from the loss of income, the lack of ability to pay for household necessities, and extra stress surrounding the COVID-19 Pandemic. Additionally, many of the services available to victims of domestic abuse were not readily available during the pandemic.
The Aurora Police Department reports crimes using the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, which generates reliable statistics for use in law enforcement.
Later this year, the Aurora Police Department plans to launch a new Police Transparency Open Data Portal that allows residents, businesses, and visitors to get a detailed and interactive look at calls for service, reported crimes, and more easily connect with officers at the department.
For statistics from past years, click here.
