Crime in Carlsbad on the Decline

SANDAG's  “Thirty Years of Crime in the San Diego Region: 1982-2011” report showed the experienced a 37 percent reduction in the violent crime rate during the years 2007-2011, the largest reduction in the county. The year 2011 showed a small increase in reported violent crime when compared to 2010, equaling an additional 15 reported crimes. Violent crime is categorized as homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

The property crime rate in Carlsbad fell 24 percent during the years 2007 through 2011.  According to SANDAG, “Most crime (86%) reported to law enforcement represents property, versus violent offenses.”  The year 2011 showed an 8 percent increase over 2010 in reported property crime. Property crime includes burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft. The City of Carlsbad maintained a lower than average property crime rate during all years analyzed.

Finally, the FBI Index Crime Rate in Carlsbad showed a 25 percent reduction during the years 2007-2011, lower than the average county rate for the years analyzed.  The FBI index includes homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.

“Good policing and a community free from crime requires teamwork,” say Police Chief Gary Morrison. “To maintain a lower crime rate, it is necessary to remove the opportunity for crime.”

“Securing your home and vehicle, and removing unattended property from assessable locations is the key,” adds Police Crime Prevention Specialist Jodee Sasway.  “Please take the time to practice good crime prevention methods.” 

Crime prevention tips can be found on the City of Carlsbad website, including home security and vehicle security instructional videos.

For the county, SANDAG found:

• In 2011, the violent and property crime rates in the San Diego region continued to decrease overall, except for an increase in the number of homicides, which jumped 22 percent from 67 to 82. In addition, while property crime was down, some types of larcenies did increase in number compared to 2010 and there were increases in all three property crime categories in the last three months of 2011, compared to the prior year.
• In 2011, both the violent and property crime rates for the San Diego region decreased and were again at new 30-year lows (3.41 and 20.19, respectively, per 1,000 residents).
• There were 82 homicides in the San Diego region in 2011, a 22 percent increase from 2010. For cases where motive could be determined, there was an increase in the number attributed to domestic violence.
• The number of robberies decreased 9 percent from 2010, the greatest drop in the violent crime category.
• Bank robberies, which had spiked in 2010, were down 36 percent, possibly reflecting successful collaboration between federal and local law enforcement to address this issue.
• While residential burglaries were down 8 percent from 2010, nonresidential burglaries were down less than 1 percent.
• Although the number of larcenies was down overall in 2011, there were more thefts of bicycles, from buildings and other locations reported in 2011. Motor vehicle theft continued to decrease in 2011, down 10 percent from 2010, with drops reported by 82 percent of the jurisdictions.
• Despite the continued annual decreases in crime, there were increases in all three property crime categories during the last quarter of the year, a trend which will continue to be monitored.

The report noted the state’s shift of inmates from prisons to county jails and the release of certain nonviolent offenders.

“According to statistics from the San Diego County Probation Department, 948 postrelease offenders were released to San Diego County during the last three months of 2011, with 820 of these individuals reporting for supervision,” SANDAG said.

Given the release of these so-called PROs starting in October 2011, “combined with the increase in reported property crime in some jurisdictions across California,” SANDAG did added analysis—comparing the number of violent and property crimes reported in the first nine months of 2011 to the same time period in 2010, and the last three months of 2011 to those months in 2010.

“While the number of violent crimes was down for the first three quarters (6%) and the last quarter (4%), this was not the case for property crime, with a decrease of 7 percent between January and September 2011 (compared to 2010), but an increase of 6 percent for October through December (compared to 2010),” the report said.

But SANDAG said it was too early to read too much into this spike at the end of 2011.

“It is important to acknowledge that these data only represent three months of time and that numerous factors could be related to these recent increases.”

–SANDAG and Carlsbad Police Press Releases contributed to this report