Crime on the Decline in Dixon

Whether it’s due to a little luck, good old-fashioned police work or community involvement, one thing is evident – the crime rate in Dixon is lower than it was last year Dixon Police Chief Jon Cox told the Dixon City Council last night.

“We have had a good year, actually two years,” Cox told the council. “We saw an additional 12 percent decrease in Part 1 crimes.”

Part 1 crimes are considered the most serious crimes and include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, auto theft and arson. In fact, the department has seen a steady decline in these crimes over the past five years.

“After a 30 percent decline in Part 1 crimes in Dixon from 2008 to 2009, there has been an additional 12 percent from 2009 to 2010,” read a report Cox presented to the council.

The report also showed that crimes against persons (criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, assault) declined in 2010 with 52 violent crimes reported in the City of Dixon, from 55 reported in 2009.  

When it comes to property crimes such as burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson, there were 484 property crimes reported in 2010, compared with 554 in 2009, according to police.

Dixon also saw a decrease of Part II crimes, which encompass all other crime classifications such as non-aggravated assault, fraud, drug abuse, disorderly conduct, etc. In 2010, Dixon citizens reported 1,481 of these types of crimes, from 1,827 in 2009. It represents 346 fewer crimes reported or a 19 percent decrease in Part II crimes from 2009.

The Department’s investigations unit handled 1,015 cases in 2010 with 670 cases closed or suspended (the latter happening when there is a lack of leads, witnesses or evidence and when the case has limited solvability); 111 cases referred to the Solano County District Attorney’s Office; 192 cases closed by arrest and 24 juvenile cases. In all, investigations handled 537 felony cases, 395 misdemeanors and 83 other cases.

Dixon Police Department’s Records Bureau processed fewer reports and citations in 2010, 3,479 compared to 4,621 in 2009 and 4,468 in 2008.

The Patrol Division, perhaps the most visible of the Department’s divisions, responded to 14,937 calls for service last year, compared to 16,426 calls for service in 2009, according to the report. The type of calls encompass traffic collisions; suspicious circumstances; criminal investigations; burglary and robbery alarms at residential and commercial buildings; calls to assist allied agencies; lost children; and calls to assist citizens with civil matters.

Patrol staff wrote 1,840 police reports and officers made approximately 370 arrests in 2010.

Police Chief Cox said that many factors, including the slump in the economy, have contributed to the rise of crime regionally and throughout the state, but Dixon is different.

“I think a certain amount of it is good fortune, but the majority of it is good police work,” said Cox, adding that it’s also due in part to a trend of community involvement.

Cox said that his department is now fully staffed and that he is proud of the two-and-a-half minute or less response time to priority calls. In addition, proactive measures of curbing crime such as the opening of the Dixon Teen Center in January – which gives teenagers in Dixon a fun, safe place to hang out – and the police department’s increased involvement in Dixon schools have contributed to the decrease in the crime rate.

But as much as the crime rate has declined in the past five years, Cox said he wouldn’t be completely satisfied until it is lower. One of the most prevalent crimes in Dixon, Cox said, is graffiti. It was a concern echoed by resident Byron Chapman who told Cox that residents in one Dixon neighborhood have gone as far as to paint over the graffiti themselves almost as soon as it is discovered.

Cox told Chapman that he constantly hears from community members about the graffiti problem and that there is an effort underway to recruit a group of volunteers to form a graffiti abatement squad in Dixon. Most of the graffiti done in Dixon is at the hands of tag crews, not gangs Cox said.

When it come to gangs in Dixon, Cox identified the two who operate in Dixon, albiet on a minimum scale,  as the Norteños and Sureños. It's an issue that police attempt to put a lid on by quickly identifiying the gang members and working with them to make sure they stay out of trouble. Nevertheless, it's a problem that Cox said is present, but not on the scale as neighboring cities.

Cox said he was concerned with how decisions made on the state level will impact Dixon. For example, Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposes that Solano County prisoners serving time in state institutions – who are considered non-violent, non-serious or non-sex offenders – return to county to be either jailed or take advantage of programs that are designed to rehabilitate them.

“We will see more people who are predisposed to criminal offenses,” Cox said.

Last night’s city council meeting was perhaps the shortest meeting of the year thus far, lasting about an hour-and-a-half, as both City Councilman Rick Fuller and Mayor Jack Batchelor were not present. The light agenda was made even lighter when one of the agenda items, a resolution that would have introduced an ordinance amending the Dixon Municipal Code relating to the Green Building Code, was held over until a full council could be realized.