The number of crimes committed in most North County cities decreased the first half of 2011, except in the cities of Carlsbad, Poway and Del Mar, per a report released by the San Diego Association of Governments. Crime fell in San Marcos, 22 percent; Encinitas, 10 percent; Solana Beach, 16 percent; Vista; 13 percent and Oceanside, 7 percent.
North County’s cities experienced drops in crime from January to June 2011, compared with the same time period in 2010, including Escondido, where crime fell 27 percent, from 2,480 incidents in 2010 to 1,803 incidents this year, according to the report.
“Overall, violent crime has continued its downward trend,” SANDAG director of Criminal Justice Research Dr. Cynthia Burke said. “The continuing decline of crime here is consistent with what is happening in the rest of the country.”
View Crime in the San Diego Region Mid-Year 2011 Statistics – CJ Bulletin September 2011
The mid-year property crime rate was also at a 10-year low, down 11 percent from 2010. Compared to the same period in 2010, larcenies dropped by 8 percent and burglaries by 13 percent, while vehicle thefts plummeted by 19 percent.
Other interesting findings in the report include:
A total of 5,320 violent crimes, which include homicides, robberies, rapes, and aggravated assaults, were reported to local law enforcement agencies in the region between January and June 2011, an average of about 29 per day.
There were 51 homicides in the first half of 2011, a considerable increase from the 31 reported mid-year 2010. Analyses of data from local law enforcement agencies on the 41 homicide cases where motive could be determined revealed that in 2011, about a quarter of the homicides were gang-related. That’s a higher percentage than what was attributed to gangs in calendar year 2010 (18 percent).
The complete report is available at www.sandag.org/cj.
