Washington top state in US for burglary crime: FBI data

Spiking crime in Washington has led to the Evergreen State now holding the highest burglary rate in the US.

An analysis of FBI crime data revealed that Washington had 548.4 burglaries per 100,000 residents. That is more than double the national rate of 254.3 and more than seven times higher than New Hampshire, which had the lowest rate of 76.2 burglaries for every 100,000 people.

Burglaries in Washington increased between 2019 and 2022 despite having dropped for the previous seven years.

More than 18,000 residential buildings in Washington had break-ins in 2022 while non-residential buildings saw over 24,000 break-ins, for a total of 43,481 burglaries in 2022, a 6 percent jump from 2021.

According to the analysis, stolen cars accounted for more value than any other item stolen.

As of 2023, Washington ranked third in the US for the number of stolen vehicles.

The spike in stolen cars correlated to the Democrat-controlled legislature barring police pursuits in most cases, approved in response to the unrest that rocked Seattle in 2020. The Legislature proceeded with the restrictions despite being cautioned that the move would embolden criminals.

Following the passage of the bill that was signed by Democratic Governor Jay Inslee, stolen cars and suspects fleeing police skyrocketed, with one criminal even calling 911 to cite the legislation to tell police to stop pursuing him.

The legislation was also blamed for deaths, including a 12-year-old girl who was killed while walking home with a friend by a stolen truck that hit the girls near their school, driven by a suspect that the police could not pursue.

Last month, a prolific offender with multiple convictions was charged with plowing into another vehicle while driving a stolen truck, killing a 42-year-old father and putting his 5-year-old son in the hospital with multiple skull fractures that required surgery.

Earlier this month, citizen-backed legislature was passed to finally remove Democrats' disastrous restrictions on police pursuits.

Crime is rampant in the Evergreen State. In 2023, Seattle, Washington’s largest city broke its all-time homicide record.