Violent Crime Rate Rose 9.5% in First Half of 2012, FBI Says

San Diego saw a 9.5 percent increase in its violent crime rate in the first six months of 2012, compared with the same period in 2011, the FBI reported.

“The increase in the [San Diego] violent crime rate was due to increases in aggravated assaults (155), forcible rapes (42) and robberies (38),” said Special Agent Darrell Foxworth.

He summarized details of the Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, which also covered Carlsbad, Chula Vista, El Cajon and Oceanside, the county cities with populations exceeding 100,000.

“Murders increased 8 percent, from 25 in 2011 to 27 in 2012,” he said of 1.32 million-resident San Diego in a news release.

He said a 7.95 percent rise in San Diego property crime “was due to increases in larceny thefts (786) and motor vehicle thefts (343).”

On a positive note, the FBI said Chula Vista, with a population of 246,783, saw a 16 percent drop in violent crime amid a modest rise in its property crime rate of 1.8 percent.

El Cajon, population 100,647, also saw a dip in its volent crime rate—24 percent.

Its property crime rate rose 6.4 percent. 

Oceanside, with a population of 169,050, logged a 9.63 percent rise in its violent crime rate, while the property crime rate rose 4.88 percent, the report said.

“The increase in violent crime was due to an increase in aggravated assaults (43). The increase in property crime was due to an increase in motor vehicle thefts (84),” the report said.

Some 330 violent crimes were logged in Oceanside in the six-month period compared with 301 in 2011, the report said. The 2012 property crime offenses totaled 1,892 compared to 1,804 in 2011.

Carlsbad, with a population of 106,566, had a 73 percent increase in violent crime in the first six months of 2012, the FBI report said.

The city’s property crime rate rose 8.14 percent.

“The increase in the violent crime rate was due to increases in aggravated assaults (45) and forcible rapes (11). The increase in property crime was due to increases in burglaries (35) and larceny thefts (45),” the report said.

Violent crime offenses from January through June totaled 137 compared with 79 in 2011, the report said. The 2012 property crime offenses totaled 983 compared to 909 with 2011.

Violent crimes for this study are considered murder and non-negligent manslaughter and forcible rape. Property crimes are burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.

The national FBI report is based on data from more than 13,300 law enforcement agencies that submitted three to six comparable months of data to the FBI in the first six months of 2011 and 2012.