AG: California crime rates went down in 2013, according to new report

Crime in California is down, according to the latest report released by the state Attorney General’s Office.

The report, “Crime in California 2013,” finds that the rate of violent crime went down from the previous year, as did property crimes.

Crime “rates” are defined as incidents per 100,000 in the report compiled by Kamala Harris’ office. It’s compiled using statistics from the Department of Justice and refers to the state overall, not broken down by individual cities and counties.

From 2012 to 2013, the rate of violent crimes decreased by 6.5 percent to reach the lowest rate since 1967.

Among the report’s other findings:

After increasing 4.2 percent in 2012, the homicide rate dropped 8.0 percent in 2013 (from 5.0 to 4.6 per 100,000.)
Despite increasing in 2012, all violent crime categories experienced double-digit decreases in number and rate from 2008 to 2013.
From 2008 to 2013, the arson offense rate decreased the most of all crime categories (32.8 percent.)

To read the full report, click here.