Rohnert Park Crime Neared Historic Lows in 2016: Officials

ROHNERT PARK, CA -- Crime in Rohnert Park dropped to near-historic lows in 2016, city officials said Jan. 24, with the decline being attributed in part to more community policing efforts.

Crime in the city dropped 17 percent last year from 2015, according to data.

Serious crimes like homicide, rape, burglary and motor vehicle theft, dropped 23 percent, according to city officials, while less serious crimes, including embezzlement, fraud and driving under the influence, dropped 10 percent.

The decrease comes after an uptick in serious crimes across California in 2015 that some officials attributed to state-level policies, such as Assembly Bill 109, Gov. Jerry Brown's prison realignment law, which moved state prisoners into county jails, thus displacing lower-level offenders who returned to the streets and committed crimes.

But Rohnert Park Mayor Jake Mackenzie said the city took measures to ensure the community remained a safe one.

"When we saw a bump in crime in 2015, the city responded by adding officers in a new Community-Oriented Problem Solving Unit," Mackenzie explained. "This group supplements our regular police patrols by focusing on probationers and parolees, drugs, gangs, prostitution and other crimes."

Bay City News contributed to this report/Image via public domain