Major Crimes Soar In Meridian, Boise

Led by a whopping 90 percent hike in burglaries, major crimes jumped nearly 30 percent last year in quickly growing Meridian.

Longtime residents “still believe in leaving their houses unlocked and their keys in the car,” sighed Police Chief Bill Gordon.

In Boise, serious crimes rose nearly 10 percent from 1993 to 1994, including a near doubling of arsons.

The bulk of the city increase was due to a rise in burglaries and thefts.

But crimes against people dropped substantially. There were 12 fewer rapes and 110 fewer aggravated assaults.

The numbers derive from FBI crime data for 1994 for murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

The FBI lists the city’s population increase at only 3 percent, to 11,883 in 1994. But the Census Bureau estimates a 13 percent hike, to 14,566. Throw in the surrounding area, and the 1994 population approached 19,000, the Ada Planning Association calculates.

Still, Gordon said, Meridian has the lowest crime rate of any city in Ada County. One murder, three rapes, one robbery and 26 aggravated assaults were reported in 1994.

The crime statistics are subject to wide variation from year to year, in smaller- and in medium-sized cities, like Boise.