(ST. PAUL) – The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has released the 2023 Uniform Crime Report. The report is a summary of crime data submitted by Minnesota’s law enforcement agencies.
According to the report, statewide violent crimes decreased by nearly seven percent in 2023, with the greatest decrease happening in the seven-county Twin Cities Metro Area, which saw an 8.2 percent decrease. Greater Minnesota saw a violent crime decrease of 3.4 percent.
In 2023 in Minnesota, there were 181 murders. That’s a decrease of one from 2022. Firearms were involved in nearly 70 percent of the incident, a three percent decrease from 2022.
The state’s law enforcement agencies reported 9,986 aggravated assaults in 2023.
Minnesota reported 2,053 rapes, a decrease of nearly 12 percent, with a majority of the rapes taking place in a home, and 40 percent of the victims being minors.
The state says 15,612 vehicles were stolen in 2023, a decrease from 16,743 in 2022. Carjacking incidents decreased 37.8 percent – and the incidents are not counted as motor vehicle thefts.
The lowest it has been in 55 years, there were 72,701 incidents of larceny in the state in 2023.
The state saw bias crimes rise, with 180 incidents reported.
Use of Force incidents
Law enforcement’s use-of-force incidents involving discharge of a firearm dropped from 18 to 16 from 2022 to 2023, and peace officers were assaulted in 961 incidents in 2023.
The state’s total use-of-force incidents totaled 21. In those 21 incidents, seven people died, nine incidents resulted in serious injury requiring medical attention and five were non-injury incidents.
