Year-end crime report shows property crime is up in Santa Cruz
UPDATE 3/14/2016 10:20 PM: 2015 proved to be a busy year for the Santa Cruz Police Department. On Monday, the city released its 2015 Year-End Crime Statistics and for the fourth year in a row officers responded to over 100,000 calls for service. On average, this represents one call every five minutes.
“What the numbers indicate is that we’re very busy, we are extremely responsive and calls for service are a priority in the city of Santa Cruz,” said Joyce Blaschke with the Santa Cruz Police Department.
Overall, the report shows crime is up 7 percent with property crimes topping the list. Auto thefts increased by 20 percent and bike thefts went up 19 percent.
“We are seeing a trend where they are particularly going after higher end bikes,” said Blaschke.
And police said bike thieves will take any opportunity to steal a bike.
“It’s real important that we remind our citizens to lock your bike inside your garage, lock your bike inside your house. It’s important because bike theft is an opportunistic crime,” said Blaschke.
But it’s not all bad news. The city saw nearly 500 fewer violent crimes in 2015, a 5 percent drop from the previous year. Reports of rape also went down 30 percent and aggravated assaults saw a 4 percent decline.
“A decrease in violent crime could indicate our community is more active and calling 911 when they see suspicious activity,” said Blaschke.
The Santa Cruz Police Department also posts monthly crime reports on its website. So far this year, the overall crime rate is down 2 percent.
PREVIOUS STORY: Santa Cruz Police just released its “End of Year Statistics for 2015,” and its hows property crime is on the rise.
The trend is being driven by burglary, auto thefts, shoplifting and bike thefts.
Car and bike thefts saw about a 20 percent increase from 2014.
Overall, crime is up 7 percent.
There is some good news — the city say nearly 500 less violent crimes in 2015, a five percent drop from last year.
We’ll have more on the numbers and what it means for the community at 10 and 11 p.m.
