Attorney General Bill Lockyer Releases 12-Month Preliminary Crime Report Showing Increases in Violent and Property Crimes

(SACRAMENTO) – Attorney General Bill Lockyer today released the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) “Preliminary Report: Crime in 2005, January Through December,” showing increases in both the violent crime category of 3.2 percent and the property crime category of 2.0 percent when compared to the same period in 2004.

“Although crime levels remain at their lowest levels in years, we cannot ignore these small increases in crime,” Lockyer said. “I am convinced that criminal street gangs and the prevalence of methamphetamine are two of the primary factors behind this recent uptick in crime. In order to further improve public safety, we need to continue to focus our attention and resources on the root causes of our crime problem.”

Smaller increases in the number of reported violent crimes were reported in 2000 (1.7 percent) and 2001 (1.7 percent).

Violent crime highlights include:
• Homicide increased by 4.4 percent
• Forcible rape decreased by 2.5 percent
• Robbery increased by 5.2 percent
• Aggravated assault increased by 2.6 percent

Property crime highlights include:
• Burglary increased 2.4 percent
• Motor vehicle theft increased 3.5 percent
• Larceny-theft over $400 decreased 0.4 percent

In addition, larceny-theft $400 and under decreased by 9.0 percent and arson decreased by 2.6 percent.

This publication compares preliminary crime data reported by police and sheriff’s departments for the twelve month period of 2005 against the same period for 2004 for 81 jurisdictions that have populations of 100,000 or greater. These 81 jurisdictions account for about 65 percent of California’s reported crimes, annually. The preliminary report is available on the Attorney General’s web site at http://ag.ca.gov/cjsc/publications/preliminarys/jd05/jd05net.pdf .