MPD reduces 2020 thefts after internal data review

The Maricopa Police Department has revised the number of thefts last year as part of its 2020 Annual Report.

The department’s initial report indicated a huge spike in property crimes, a nearly 52% increase from 2019 to 2020. Most of that increase was due to thefts, which MPD initially reported as rising from 492 in 2019 to 782 in 2020, a 59% increase. (The city saw a reduction of serious Part 1 crimes like homicide, rape and aggravated assault, according to the report.)

InMaricopa.com reported on the annual report, headlining its story: “2020 report: violent crime down, property crime way up.” The story also noted percentage increases for robberies, burglaries and vehicle thefts, in addition to thefts.

After seeing the story, MPD Chief James Hughes asked for a departmental review of the 2020 data, he said.

That analysis found the actual number of reported thefts to be 478, or a 2.8% decrease from 2019. MPD did not change its original numbers in any other categories, for either property or violent crimes.

“After a closer review of the 2020 crime data it was discovered we had entered incorrect data for thefts,” Hughes said in a statement. “Our initial annual report listed thefts as 782 when the actual number of thefts for 2020 is 478.”

Hughes said the error occurred when a crime analyst mistakenly used the number of reported thefts as the number of actual thefts. Reported thefts typically outnumber actual thefts because some reports prove to be unfounded or are resolved without commission of a crime.

With the revised theft numbers, the overall number of reported property crimes also decreased 2.8% from 2019 to 2020.

Nine robberies were reported in 2020, more than twice the four reported in 2019. Burglaries in 2020 numbered 75, compared to 59 in 2019, a 27% increase. Vehicle thefts climbed about 8% year over year, with 62 reported in 2020 compared to 57 in the previous year.

As far as violent crime, no homicide cases were reported in 2020, compared to a single case in 2019. Four forcible rapes were reported in 2020, down from 11 in 2019. The number of aggravated assaults fell slightly, from 57 in 2019 to 54 in 2020.