Poway’s Serious-Crime Rate Is Still Among Lowest in the County

Poway’s serious-crime rate in 2011 was the second-lowest in San Diego County, and it dropped 19 percent over five years, although the rate did rise last year compared to 2010.

The San Diego Association of Governments this week reported that Poway’s rate for FBI Index crimes in 2011 was 13.62 per 1,000 residents—a 15 percent increase from 2010, when the rate was 11.81.

FBI Index crimes are homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

But of the 26 cities and unincorporated areas listed in the SANDAG report (attached), only 4S Ranch had a lower serious-crime rate, with 8.95 per 1,000 population.

The violent crime rate was up slightly in Poway in 2011, at 1.81 per 1,000 residents, but fell 10 percent between 2007 and 2011. Ninety-four violent crimes were reported in the city in 2011.

Property crime reports followed the same trend, up slightly from 2011 but down 18 percent over five years. The number of domestic violence incidents reported in Poway fell by 20 percent in 2011, to 127.

No homicides were reported in Poway in 2011, but eight rapes, 69 aggravated assaults and 67 residential burglaries were reported.

San Diego County’s serious-crime rate fell 20 percent in the past five years and 4 percent from 2010 to 2011, the report said. Areas patrolled by the county Sheriff’s Department —17 jurisdictions including Poway—saw property crime rates fall 21 percent between 2007 and 2011, the report said.

SANDAG summarized key findings for the county:

• 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 that 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 percent) and the last quarter (4 percent), 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.”