Though Rhode Island is among the smallest territorial states in the USA, this does not mean that there are no crimes there. A Review of Rhode Island Crime Rates Examining Crimes Around the State and by Year Over the Last Decade Including RI's Ten Largest Cities. Furthermore an overview of how they influence the general state of Ocean Forest. This will be the foundation for what has been achieved in public safety in Rhode Island and where crime rates are trending.
The overall trend in the crime rates in Rhode Island
Data show Rhode Island's violent crime rate was much higher than the national average between the 1990s and mid-2000s timeframe. Rhode Island has, however, generally followed the national pattern wherein crime seems to be down during the last ten years.
By 2005, the highest rate of the year—4.1 per 1,000 population—has been recorded for reported violent crime. With an average of 2.5 incidences per 1,000 people in 2018, the lowest level recorded in ten years, violent crime has declined drastically since then.
The pattern in Rhode Island regarding property crime has been the same. At 26.8 per 1,000 people in the year 2009, the height of the Great Recession, property crime also peaked. Even this has dropped to 18.5 crimes per 1,000 people in 2018, following a steady downward trend seen above.
Rhode Island has some cities with high crime rates and those are briefly described below.
Most of the annual variations throughout the state of Rhode Island during the last ten years may be explained by the kind and frequency of crime in its biggest cities.
Providence:
With 6.1 per 1000 people in 2018, Providence, the capital and biggest city in the state, had the highest degree of violent crimes. This indicates that there has been a little rise of 4.7% from the year before; thus, the preceding ten years have shown a variable pattern with diminishing tendencies usually. From its lowest point in 10 years to the early two thousand, property crime in Providence dropped from 28.2 crimes per one thousand inhabitants in 2018, a 17% decline from the year 2017.
Warwick:
With a 29% annual increase in violent crime rate, Warwick's 1.9 per 1000 residents was reached. Warxwk remains much lower than the violent crime statistics of Providence and Pawtucket. Warwick's property crime rate has been declining over the last 10 years; in 2018 it was 14.2 property crimes per thousand residents, 36% less than the 2008 statistic.
Pawtucket:
Data for the last ten years shows Pawtucket's yearly crime rates among those highest in Rhode Island. The violent crime rate rose in 2018; this is the third straight year of such occurrence; the rate was 4.8 incidents per 1,000 individuals, 79 percent greater than the rate recorded in 2008. Still, Pawtucket's property crime in 2018 declined to 30 occurrences per 1000 people, a consistent 10-year downward trend.
Factors that have impacted the trends of the crime rate in Rhode Island
Over the last 10 years, Rhode Island has also started other police and community initiatives that help to explain the declining crime rates. Still, there are probably other elements influencing crime beyond the scope of law enforcement that have also had a part.
For example, unemployment in Rhode Island was at 11.7 percent in 2010 and 3.9 percent in 2018. With statistical relevance, several diverse sources of research demonstrate that unemployment positively correlates with crime. Therefore, the larger economic development in the same era might have helped to explain Rhode Island's declining crime rate since 2010.
In 2008, the population of Rhode Island prisons welcomed more and more individuals to attain the greatest level of imprisonment ever. But over time the state has started reform initiatives to help criminals on release thereby increasing the effectiveness of probation and parole. From the 2008 record, Rhode Island has been able to lower its imprisonment rate by 12%. By 2016 Reduced rates of jail and recidivism might be limiting the overall increase in crime; therefore, the noted decreases.
Future Outlook
Examining Rhode Island's crime patterns reveals a long-term trend of declining crime rates if one considers the high of 2005–2010; studying the annual swings makes it difficult to pinpoint a clear trend. Changes in economic growth, in the strengthening or weakening of the law enforcement structures, and in the policies of criminal justice systems of the nations all of which could have an impact on the crime rates during the next ten years.
Based on the consistently declining uniformed crime rates throughout the United States since the start of the 1990s, criminologists also argue that tiny yearly increases are inevitable. Still, Rhode Island's comprehensive view of the issue helps it to be well-prepared to follow through with its crime-detection and -reduction policies, thereby keeping ahead of national statistics.
Conclusion
These results, however, point to a drastic change for Rhode Island, whose crime rates increased throughout the 1990s and 2000s before declining generally. Maintaining this trend in Rhode Island may depend on further economic growth, effective police considering the regions with high crime rates, and gradual changes in the criminal justice system.
