Crime in McAllen on downward trend in 2023

Overall crime rates in the city of McAllen trended downward in 2023, though there were increases in certain crimes, including murder, shoplifting and stolen vehicles.

That’s according to figures released this week as part of the city’s annual crime report, which is compiled using the National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS.

The NIBRS categorizes criminal offenses into 24 categories that are further subdivided into 62 subcategories.

According to the crime estimate report, crimes against persons decreased 2.2%, while crimes against property went down by 2.4%, and crimes against society dipped 1.4%.

“Our community strives to prevent crime, to promote public safety, and to participate in the investigation of crime when it does occur,” McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said in a statement on Thursday.

In general, the city saw decreases in most of its violent crime offenses, including rape, aggravated assault and robberies. The one violent crime category that saw an uptick was murder, which falls under the NIBRS’ “homicide” category.

Though “homicides” went down 27% overall, the number of murders actually went up in 2023.

That’s because the NIBRS breaks homicide offenses into two categories: “murder and non-negligent manslaughter,” and “negligent manslaughter.”

The difference between the two categories lies in intent.

Murder and non-negligent manslaughter involves the willful killing of another, including due to a fight, argument, or while committing another crime.

Negligent manslaughter, on the other hand, includes deaths that result from incidents such as hunting accidents, cleaning a firearm, and people killed by drunk or reckless drivers.

There were 11 total homicide offenses in 2023. Of those, seven were classified as murder or non-negligent homicide. That’s two more than occurred in McAllen in 2022.

Of those, more than 57% involved a firearm, while nearly 43% involved the use of a knife or other cutting instrument.

Police arrested four people on murder or non-negligent manslaughter charges, including three men and one woman, the data show.

The rate of sexual offenses, which includes rape, sodomy, fondling, and sexual assault with an object, went down by 12% overall.

There were 40 rapes reported in 2023.

Though that’s a decrease of three compared to 2022, the data show that almost half of the survivors were children and teens.

A total of 17 minors between the ages of 11 and 16 reported a rape to the police department, while one rape of a child under 10 was reported.

The majority of the alleged perpetrators were known to the victim.

According to the figures, 40% of the survivors were raped by someone in the NIBRS’ “family” category, which includes intimate partners, such as boyfriends or girlfriends. The other 60% were raped by someone in the “non-family” category, which can include an acquaintance.

There was also a substantial uptick in stolen vehicles.

The NIBRS figures show that 92 vehicles were reported stolen in 2023, compared to just 64 in 2022. That’s an increase of nearly 44%. Police were able to recover 33 of those vehicles.

November and July were the busiest months for stolen vehicles, at 17 and 15, respectively, followed by March, September and December, which each saw 11 vehicles reported stolen.

Pickup trucks made up two-thirds of the vehicles that were reported stolen.

When it comes to stealing other things, the data show that incidents in the theft category were down overall, however, thefts from buildings and via shoplifting increased 22% and nearly 15%, respectively.

In 2023, 186 thefts from buildings were reported in McAllen, versus 152 the previous year.

Meanwhile, shoplifting reports went up from 1,029 to 1,181.

The police department averaged one call for service every 3.7 minutes, for a total of 141,694 calls for service last year. That represents an increase of 3.5% compared to the prior year.

The highest call volumes occurred between the hours of noon and 7 p.m.