The number of major crimes in Baton Rouge in 2009 increased by 8.48% when compared to 2008, according to crime figures submitted to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. Crimes Against Persons (murder, rape, robbery and assault) rose 4.98%, while Crimes Against Property (burglary, larceny, arson and motor vehicle theft) were up 9.23%. Overall clearance (solve) rates dropped slightly from 20.35% to 19.94% but still remained above the national average for cities our size. Despite the increase in 2009, overall serious crime in Baton Rouge has dropped for seven of the last nine years, and in the decade just ended (2000-2009) overall serious crime in Baton Rouge declined by 24.5%.

A breakdown of individual crime categories follows.