Bessemer Crime

Crime Overview: Bessemer (Pueblo, CO)

Bessemer is a specific subdivision within Pueblo, home historically to industrial development and today known for its diverse population and older housing stock. Crime varies greatly even within the subdivision, but recent official statistics and aggregated analysis give us a clear picture:

Violent Crime

• Rate: ~10.39 per 1,000 residents (≈ 1.04%) annually CrimeGrade.org

• Risk: ~1 in 96 chance of being a victim. CrimeGrade.org

• Violent crimes include: homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault.

For context, the city-wide violent crime rate in Pueblo is ~14.76 per 1,000, significantly above national averages CrimeGrade.org Neighborhood Scout. Neighborhood Scout

🏠 Property Crime

• Rate: ~45.13 per 1,000 residents (≈ 4.51%) annuallyCrimeGrade.org. CrimeGrade.org

• Risk: ~1 in 22 chance of falling victim.

Property crime in Bessemer is most likely in the northeast parts of the neighborhood, with fewer incidents toward the southeastCrimeGrade.org. CrimeGrade.org

Crime in Pueblo vs. National Averages

Measure	Bessemer (Pueblo)	Pueblo City Avg	U.S. Avg*
Violent Crime	10.39 per 1,000	14.76 per 1,000	~4.0 per 1,000
Property Crime	45.13 per 1,000	55.44 per 1,000	~28.8 per 1,000

*National rates approximated from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 2024 aggregated data Neighborhood Scout Safe Home.org. Neighborhood Scout+1

Summary:

• Bessemer’s violent crime rate is roughly 2.6× the national average, but lower than the Pueblo city average.

• Property crime is ~2× the U.S. average - still high, reflecting Pueblo’s broader trends.

Pueblo vs. Peer Cities

To properly evaluate Bessemer’s situation, it’s helpful to see how Pueblo (and by extension Bessemer) compares to similar-sized U.S. cities:

City (Large)	Violent Crime per 1,000	Property Crime per 1,000
Pueblo	~14.76	~55.44
Aurora, CO	~8.15	~36.30
Houston, TX	~11.35	~46.70
Milwaukee, WI	~15.18	~50.31
Phoenix, AZ	~8.23	~39.94

Takeaway: Pueblo’s violent and property crime rates are higher than many midsize cities. However, certain post-industrial or disadvantaged cities - like Milwaukee or some Southeast metro areas - still exceed Pueblo in violent crime.

Why Bessemer Is Riskier than It Looks

Several factors explain Bessemer’s crime profile:

• Economic History: Once a steel-producing hub, Pueblo’s economy faced decline, leading to persistent poverty and disinvestment.

• Urban Decay: Abandoned housing and vacant lots in areas of Bessemer attract property crimes.

• Concentrated Violence: Violent crime often clusters in northeast zones, while southeast areas can approach safer neighborhood levels - a microcosm of Pueblo’s uneven distribution.

Practical Perspective for Residents

• Most Bessemer residents report average safety in the southeast parts of the subdivision.

• Neighbors at risk: Residents in lower-maintenance northeast blocks and near industrial zones.

• Precautions: Home security, neighborhood watch participation, and community policing initiatives markedly improve safety perceptions.

Conclusion:
While Bessemer’s crime figures exceed U.S. averages - by about 2.5× for violent crime and 2× for property crime - they are still slightly lower than Pueblo’s city-wide rates. The numbers are typical of Rust Belt/industrial cities in the U.S., where socioeconomic factors continue to shape crime patterns. However, they also highlight opportunities: parts of Bessemer are stabilizing and becoming safer, and crime has decreased locally since 2021 according to police reports.

Neighborhood-level official crime time-series (year-by-year numbers) are rarely published by law enforcement. Most neighborhood figures come from commercial aggregators (Crime Grade, Neighborhood Scout, Crime Explorer) that estimate rates by mapping police reports to small areas. Therefore I’ll:

• Use Pueblo city annual data (FBI/CBI / Pueblo Police) as the reliable, year-by-year baseline, and

• Use Crime Grade / neighborhood analyses and local reporting to show how Bessemer has tracked those city trends and where it differs geographically.
  Where I make claims about Bessemer specifically I’ll flag them as estimates/aggregations. Sources below support the main points. Pueblo+3 Colorado Public Radio+3 CrimeGrade.org+3

Short summary (one line)

From 2015 → ~2019 Pueblo’s rates were elevated but fairly steady; 2020–2022 saw mixed changes during COVID with a sharp uptick in violent crime/homicides peaking in 2021–2022, and 2023–2025 show signs of stabilization and measurable declines in several categories (property crime, robberies, homicide YTD) per Pueblo PD reporting. Bessemer generally follows city trends but remains one of the higher-crime neighborhoods (especially for property crime and concentrated violent incidents in parts of the subdivision). Colorado Public Radio+1

Year-by-year narrative (2015 → 2025)

2015–2018 - pre-pandemic baseline

• Pueblo’s overall violent and property crime rates in this period were above national averages, but roughly in the same range year-to-year. These years are typically treated as the local baseline. (FBI/CBI/UCR reporting and local stats used as baseline). Federal Bureau of Investigation+1

2019

• Pueblo continued to show elevated property-crime rates compared with U.S. averages (reports/aggregates show property crime strongly represented). Commercial neighborhood data already showed Bessemer with higher property crime risk than many Pueblo neighborhoods. NeighborhoodScout+1

2020 (pandemic year)

• Crime patterns nationwide changed in complex ways during the pandemic (some crime types fell, others rose). Pueblo showed mixed movement consistent with national heterogeneity. (See research on COVID effects on crime and state reporting). arXiv+1

2021–2022 - spike in violent crime / homicides

• Pueblo experienced a noticeable rise in homicides and certain violent crime categories, with 2021→2022 increases producing a local spike. Reporting cited large increases in homicides in 2021 and a high count in 2022 (29 homicides reported for 2022). This drove Pueblo’s violent-crime profile above many peer cities for those years. Colorado Public Radio

• Bessemer — local maps and neighborhood aggregators continued to show Bessemer as a concentrated area for both property and violent incidents during this period (estimates from Crime Grade and neighborhood crime aggregators). CrimeGrade.org

2023 - partial stabilization

• Final FBI-verified city-level figures for 2023 were slower to publish, but local reporting and compstat updates suggested a leveling off (some violent categories remained high, but not as sharp an increase as 2021–2022). Commercial crime-index sites show Bessemer’s rates still elevated but not continually accelerating. NeighborhoodScout+1

2024 → 2025 (most recent signals)

• Pueblo Police Department public updates and local reporting for 2024–2025 indicate declines in several categories year-to-date vs prior years (robberies, some violent categories, property crimes showing decreases YTD in 2025). Pueblo PD compstat and local news cite percentages like robberies down ~40–46% YTD and homicides down substantially compared to the prior year period. These are year-to-date comparisons (not full calendar year totals). Chieftain+1

• Bessemer still rates above the Pueblo average in many neighborhood aggregations (e.g., CrimeGrade shows Bessemer violent/property rates higher than national averages), but local policing and targeted efforts appear to be associated with recent decreases in several property crime categories. CrimeGrade.org+1

Concrete numbers & direction (high-level)

• Homicides: rose steadily 2018 → 2022 with a peak in 2022 (≈29 homicides reported by Pueblo for 2022); 2024–2025 YTD figures indicate declines vs immediate prior year in city-reported compstat. Colorado Public Radio+1

• Violent crime (aggregate): elevated relative to U.S. average across the decade, spiking in 2021–2022, levelling or decreasing slightly in 2023–2025 YTD. NeighborhoodScout+1

• Property crime: high historically for Pueblo and Bessemer; recent Pueblo PD reports show property crime trending down in 2024–2025 YTD (police cite roughly a ~10% decrease YTD in some recent 2025 updates). Chieftain+1

What we can say about Bessemer specifically

• Commercial neighborhood analyses (Crime Grade / Crime Explorer / Neighborhood Scout) consistently place Bessemer above national averages for both property and violent crime rates - i.e., a higher-risk pocket within Pueblo. These services also show geographic concentration within Bessemer (northeast blocks worse than southeast). These are modeled estimates based on mapped police reports rather than an official “Bessemer police report.” CrimeGrade.org+2CrimeGrade.org+2

• The trend for Bessemer has generally mirrored Pueblo: roughly stable to moderate increases up to 2019, a spike in violent incidents 2020–2022, then some stabilization and reductions in several categories by 2024–2025 YTD. CrimeGrade.org+1

Limitations & data quality

1. Neighborhood estimates: commercial sites estimate neighborhood counts by mapping reported incidents; they are useful for patterns but not a substitute for official LEA neighborhood breakdowns. (I’m relying on Crime Grade / Neighborhood Scout for neighborhood mapping.) CrimeGrade.org+1

2. FBI/CBI lag: FBI UCR/CDE and state CBI datasets are authoritative but published with delay; local PD compstat and news can provide more current YTD signals. CDE UCR CJIS+1

3. Comparability: different sources use slightly different definitions, time windows (calendar year vs YTD) and geographies - I focused on direction and major changes rather than precise single-source rates when a neighborhood was involved.