Trumbull crimes drop to pre-pandemic levels, report shows

The data shows that some crimes that increased in 2021, such as violent crimes, have returned to pre-pandemic numbers in 2022.

Data submitted by the Trumbull police was gathered through the federal National Incident-Based Reporting System.

According to the data explorer, violent crime last year fell to its lowest level since 2014.

In 2022, there were 22 violent crimes reported. This is a decrease from 28 in 2021. Despite an uptick from 2020 to 2021, violent crime has been on a downward trend since 2017, when there were 55 such incidents.

Arrests for robberies decreased to 11 in 2022 compared to the 14 reported in 2021. That is about the same as the lowest reported numbers of robberies in a year, with 10 reported in both 2013 and 2020, according to the report.

The number of aggravated assaults also decreased, with six in 2022, its lowest since 2012 when there also were six. That number has been as high as 23 in 2019.

Trumbull reported 40 burglaries in 2022, compared to 53 the year before. That number also is on a downward trend over the past decade, with 84 reported in 2013.

Another crime that has seen a decrease in activity is motor vehicle theft, which dropped to 32 reports in 2022 compared to the 56 reported in 2021 and the 72 reported in 2020, according to the report.

Two types of crimes that increased from 2021 to 2022 were property crimes and larceny, the data shows. Property crimes rose from 633 to 699 from 2021 to 2022, according to the report. Despite the rise, though, property crimes also have been gradually decreasing over the years from a high of just under 900 in 2016.

For larceny-theft, there were 627 incidents reported in 2022, which is an increase from the 524 reports that were made in 2021, reports show.

Larceny-theft, though, has also seen a gradual decrease in reports since its peak in 2016 when nearly 800 incidents were reported, according to the report.

Lombardo said compared to 2019, these two crimes have shown a decrease but they are still are difficult to get under control.

“One of the issues is that when you’re talking about property crimes and larcenies, is that people have fled before you even get there,” he said. “And unless we get information on the car they’re driving and who they are, it’s really hard to figure out who the person would have been and to make an arrest. It’s really difficult.”

Some crimes either remained the same or were essentially non-existent, data shows.

There were five rapes reported in both 2021 and 2022, and Trumbull has not had a homicide since 2012, according to the report.

There also were no arsons in town in 2022, after the town recorded five in 2021.

Despite the low crime levels in town, Lombardo said the personnel shortage the police department experienced in recent years had affected the department’s ability to have a presence in popular areas in town such as Trumbull Mall.

“I think the officers do a really good job,” he said. “The more people we can put in the field to continue to do that, the better the town will be and we could provide better public safety.”