Motor vehicle thefts at 10-year high in Minnesota, BCA report says

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released its annual crime report Monday for 2017. 

According to the report, violent crimes - which include murder, rape, robbery, human trafficking and aggravated assault - increased 0.5 percent in 2017, while property crimes - such as burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson - increased by 4.4 percent. 

Motor vehicle thefts were at a 10-year high in 2017, with the number of thefts increasing by 15.2 percent from 2016. In Minnesota, there were 9,960 motor vehicle thefts in 2017, compared to 8,649 in 2016. 

For other property crimes, arson increased 7.4 percent, while burglary and larceny also saw small increases. 

The number of murders increased from 100 in 2016 to 119 in 2017. Rapes and aggravated assaults were both slightly up in 2017, while robberies and human trafficking were slightly down. 

The data comes from local law enforcement agencies, which are required to make report their crime statistics to the BCA each year.