Cambridge 2022 Serious Crime Review

As pandemic-related shutdowns and social distancing decreased considerably in 2022, the City of Cambridge experienced an increase in total Part 1 Crimes* this year. Much of the 11% increase recorded in 2022 can be attributed to increases in robbery, residential burglary, larceny from buildings, and shoplifting, as well as the continuing trend of catalytic converter thefts from motor vehicles. The 2022 total of 2,894 crimes is 297 incidents above the total of 2,597 crimes recorded in 2021.

The total of 2,259 serious crimes reported in 2019 represented the lowest total of index crimes reported to the FBI since Congress enacted the Omnibus Crime Control Act in 1968. Despite registering increases for the past three years, the crime index total continues to register below 3,000 incidents in Cambridge. Further analysis of the crime breakdown indicates that there were 2,498 property crimes recorded in 2022, 215 more than the number reported in 2021, equaling an increase of 9%. Meanwhile, there were 396 violent crimes reported in 2022, 82 more than in 2021, which translates to a rise of 26%. 

*Serious crime refers to Part I “Index” crimes, the seven serious crimes which the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program collects statistics on.