State Crime Rate Declined In 2011

Crime rates dropped across Washington state in 2011, according to an annual report released by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.

The total crime rate fell to 38.3 crimes per 1,000 residents, down 3.4 percent from 2010.

The report said the violent-crime rate also fell, down 5 percent from 2010. There were 19,568 violent crimes reported in the state in 2011; about 60 percent of them were aggravated assaults.

The rate of property crimes fell 3.3 percent from 2010, for a total of 239,428 property crimes reported. Two-thirds of those were larceny or theft offenses.

The report found no law-enforcement officers were killed on the job in 2011, although assaults on officers rose 2.9 percent from 2010, to 1,049.