|
Home /
City
Hall /
Departments /
Police Department /
|
 |
|
Back |
Crimes Against Property
* Note: These pages are graphic intensive.
Crimes against property declined 10.9% in 1995 when compared against 1994. The decrease
was due to a dramatic 29.6% drop in burglaries. Larcenies declined 5.8% and auto thefts
fell 7.5%. This is the second year that crimes against property has shown a striking
decrease. In 1994, property crimes declined 17.0%. The 6,986 property crimes recorded in
1995 is the fewest recorded since the 6,733 were reported in 1974. Between 1987 and 1993,
property crimes rose an average of 3.4% per year with the largest increase of 10.8%
occurring between 1990 and 1991.
Burglary
Burglary is "the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. The
use of force to gain entry is not required to classify an offense as a burglary."
This UCR program definition is more restrictive than California law which classifies a
theft from a locked motor vehicle as a burglary, but UCR classifies it as a larceny.
Burglary declined 29.6% in 1995 as only 1,112 crimes were reported. The department has
automated records dating back to 1974 and this represents the fewest number of burglaries
occurring within a calendar year. From 1987 to 1989, burglaries continued on a downward
trend which had begun in 1983 when 2,357 cases were reported. The year 1990 saw a 13.0%
increase and 1991 followed with a 8.9% rise. Burglaries declined .6% and 5.8% in 1992 and
1993, before rising 4.6% last year. From 1987 to 1994, burglaries rose a total of 6.9%
which yields an average yearly increase of .9%. These relationships are depicted in Figure
17.
For a more detailed look at burglaries, they can be divided into two classes:
residential and non-residential. In 1995, residential burglaries declined 37.5% and erases
last year's 9.6% rise. From 1987 through 1990, residential burglaries declined 22.9%, an
average drop of 7.6% per year. However, in 1991 there was a one-year jump of 26.2%,
followed by two successive years of declines. Figure 18 displays residential burglary data
from 1987 through 1995. Non-residential burglaries, depicted in Figure 19, recorded a
22.5% decrease in 1995. This follows 1994's fractional increase of .3%. From 1987 through
1992, non-residential burglaries climbed 33.8%, an average increase of 6.8% per year. A
4.1% drop occurred in 1993. |
 |
Larceny
Larceny is defined by the UCR program as "the unlawful taking, carrying, leading,
or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of
another." It is synonymous with "theft" and includes such crimes as
shoplifting, pick-pocketing, purse-snatching, thefts from motor vehicles, thefts of motor
vehicle parts and accessories, bicycle thefts, etc., in which there is not any force,
violence, or fraud occurring. Motor vehicle theft, worthless checks, forgery, and fraud
are excluded from this Part I category.
The UCR larceny category comprised 59.4% of all of the major crimes occurring within
Santa Monica City limits during 1995. The UCR program counts all larcenies as equal while
California law separates theft into two distinct categories: grand theft and petty theft.
Grand theft is punishable as a felony crime while petty theft is a misdemeanor. Generally,
the value of the property taken determines whether it is grand theft or petty theft.
Property with a value of more than $400.00 is grand theft while $400.00 or less is petty
theft. In 1995, larceny declined 5.8% over the 1994 level. This follows 1994's 17.6%
decrease and confirms the reversal of an upward trend which began in 1990. There was 5,078
incidents reported in 1990 and by 1993, the number of larcenies had increase to 6,181. The
4,795 incidents recorded this year represents a 22.4% decrease from the peak year of 1993,
and is the fewest number of larcenies recorded since the 4,060 in 1979.
Thefts from autos continued to account for the largest number of larcenies during the
year, 43.9%, followed by thefts from buildings, 14.5%, and shoplifts, 14.2%. Added
together, the two categories of thefts from autos and thefts of auto accessories account
for 52.5% of the total. This means over half of all thefts involve either equipment or
contents from motor vehicles. These relationships are depicted in Figure 21 while the
amount of larceny losses are illustrated in Figure 22.
 |
Motor Vehicle Theft
Motor vehicle theft is "the theft or at tempted theft of a motor vehicle" and
includes automobiles, trucks, buses, motorcycles, motor scooters, and snowmobiles, but
excludes farm equipment, bulldozers, airplanes, construction equipment, or motorboats.
Motor vehicle theft declined 7.5% in 1995 when compared to the number of thefts in 1994.
This decrease follows a 33.5% decline recorded in 1994. The 1,079 stolen vehicles during
1995 is the fewest number since 1982 when 999 were stolen. From 1987 through 1991, the
number of motor vehicle thefts had increased each year. In 1992, there was a 11.4% decline
followed by a 4.5% increase in 1993. |
| Of the vehicles stolen in 1995, 826 were recovered, a recovery rate of 76.6%. This
closely mirrors the 76.5% recovery rate for 1994 which was an 15.6% increase over the
recovery rate posted in 1993. From 1987 through 1989, the recovery rate averaged 85.5%.
But, from 1988 through 1993, an average of only 62.3% of the vehicles stolen were
recovered. Of the 826 vehicles which were recovered in 1995, 238 were recovered within the
City of Santa Monica while 588 were recovered in other law enforcement jurisdictions. The
Santa Monica Police Department recovered an additional 351 vehicles within the City limits
which had been reported stolen in other jurisdictions. This is almost twice the 177
vehicles which were stolen in other jurisdictions and recovered in Santa Monica during
1994. |
 |
Back
This page was last modified on
01/26/2008
|
