Juvenile arrests in the San Diego region are at the lowest rate they’ve been in a decade, according to a new report.
The report – released Friday by the San Diego Association of Governments’ (SANDAG) Criminal Justice Division – finds that, on average, San Diego law enforcement agencies made 13 juvenile arrests daily in 2017.
The report said the annual arrest rate was 13.9 per 1,000, which is a 76 percent drop from the arrest rate in 2008 of 56.9 per 1,000.
SANDAG Division Director of Criminal Justice Dr. Cynthia Burke said the statistics show the juvenile arrest rate in the San Diego region has declined over the past 10 years. This could be due, in part, to an increased focus across California on what the report cites as "prevention, diversion, and alternatives to detention."
However, San Diego County still had the second-highest juvenile and adult arrest rates in 2017 compared to the four other largest counties in Southern California. San Bernardino had the highest rate, followed by San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties.
The SANDAG report also looked at adult arrests in San Diego County in 2017, finding that, on average, 229 adults were arrested daily in San Diego County in 2017.
When comparing the juvenile stats against the adult stats, the report said the figures equate to about one juvenile arrest for every 19 adult arrests.
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Also in comparison to juvenile arrests, the report shows adults were more often arrested for violent, drug-related and weapon offenses than minors. The report found that alcohol and drug-related offenses – including driving under the influence – were among the most common reasons for adult arrests. Adults between the ages of 20 and 29 had the highest arrest rate in San Diego County.
SANDAG said another notable statistic is the 9 percent decline in adult property offense arrests in 2017 compared to 2016.
“This decline in property-related arrests for adults may be related in-part to Proposition 47 which was passed in 2014 and reduced several property and drug-related offenses from felonies to misdemeanors,” Burke said in a press release.
The report also looked at gender across both the juvenile and adult arrests categories. On an average day last year, 172 adult males were arrested compared to 56 adult females. For all of 2017, SANDAG said 3,423 juvenile males were arrested across the San Diego region and 1,278 juvenile females.
SANDAG has been reporting crime statistics for San Diego since 1980. The data is used by local agencies to track public safety and improve the prevention of crimes.
To read this full report, click here.
