Las Vegas crime numbers increase

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

Las Vegas suffered an increase last year in homicides, robberies and aggravated assaults, according to an FBI report released Monday.

Violent crime increased 18 percent, the FBI's Uniform Crime report says.

Homicides rose 48 percent, from 90 in 2000 to 133 last year. The city had 4,932 robberies reported, an 8 percent increase from the previous year.

The FBI gathers crime rate information from police departments across the country and issued the Uniform Crime Report annually. The numbers reflect the crime rate in 2001.

Metro Police Lt. Ted Snodgrass said his records for 2002 show robberies have increased 10 percent over last year.

Snodgrass said robberies of banks, stores, casinos and other businesses are down, but street robberies have risen.

He said he can attribute the increase in street robberies to the economy. People who are out of work could be looking for a quick buck, he said.

"It tells me the robberies are a lot more spontaneous. They're more random," Snodgrass said. "Some of it probably has to do with the economy."

The increase in robberies doesn't necessarily spell trouble -- the crime rate seems to be keeping pace with the population growth, Snodgrass said. The population of Las Vegas has been increasing about 6 percent per year.

"It's not like we're having this wave of violence," Snodgrass said. "We've been good at catching (the offenders)."

One person, which police dubbed the "Tattoo Bandit," is responsible for committing two dozen robberies this year, which might explain part of the 10 percent jump, he said.

Statewide, there were 4,300 crimes reported per 100,000 people in 2001. The national average is 4,160 crimes reported per 100,000 people.