A mid-year report released on Tuesday shows property and violent crimes in San Diego County declined so far in 2014 compared to the same period last year.
The SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments) report shows property crime decreased 13 percent and violent crime fell 1 percent. However, arson cases increased 21 percent, the report showed.
The newly released statistics were in sharp contrast to the mid-year report last year, which saw property crime spike by 5 percent.
Sixteen of 19 local cities saw drops in property crime, ranging from a 3-percent decline in La Mesa to a 37 percent drop in Del Mar.
Here are other key findings from SANDAG:
- A total of 30,549 property crimes were reported to local law enforcement in the first six months of 2014. This translates into an annualized rate of 19.40 per 1,000 residents, down from 22.23 in 2013. Sixty-five percent of the property crimes were larcenies, 19 percent burglaries, and 16 percent motor vehicle thefts. Notably, larcenies declined 12 percent in mid-year 2014 compared to mid-year 2013, after two years of increases.
- There were 216 arsons reported in the region in the first half of 2014, up from 179 in the first half of 2013. Six of ten local law enforcement agencies reported increases.
- There were 38 homicides in the first of half of 2014, a 7 percent decline from the 41 reported in mid-2013.
- The number of rapes across the region increased to 376 in the first half of 2014, up 20 percent from the 314 that occurred in the same period last year.
