PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department divides the city into 2,427 city blocks for crime reporting purposes.
An analysis of recent data released by the department shows more than half of all violent crimes occur in only 8% of city blocks from January 2022 to last month (May).
In total, 13,714 violent crimes are recorded in the city’s open database occurring from January 1, 2022 to May 30, 2023.
One hundred and ninety-six city blocks contributed to 6,888 of these violent crimes, averaging 35 per city block.
Fifty city blocks in particular were responsible for 20% of violent crime.
Most are clustered in downtown Phoenix and run northward along Interstate 17 until Cactus Road.
Two smaller clusters exist around Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and 67th Avenue.
The city block with the highest number of violent crimes by far is the location of Phoenix’s zone encampment, an area riddled with crime that ABC15 has covered extensively.
The five city blocks with the highest reported violent crimes in 2022-2023 are:
- Phoenix Zone Encampment near Washington & Van Buren: 177
- Indian School & 27th Avenue: 86
- Bethany Home & 19th Avenue: 81
- Camelback & 27th Avenue: 75
- Glendale & 19th Avenue: 75
Overall trends of violent crime in Phoenix are up.
The Phoenix Police Department reported in a recently released Crime Reduction Plan that total violent crimes in Phoenix increased 8% from 2017 to 2022.
Homicides saw the largest increase at 39%. Aggravated assaults, the most frequently reported violent crime, rose 14%. Rape and robberies are both down 3% compared to five years ago.
Property crimes are decreasing in the city with 5% fewer in 2022 than in 2017. Burglaries dropped by more than half.
Thefts, the most prevalent property crime, decreased by 15%.
The city saw little change in Moter Vehicle Thefts with a slight decrease of 0.3% and arson, the most infrequent property crime rose 35%.
An important note: Since homicides and arsons are small compared to other types of crimes, larger percentage shifts from year to year can be common.
