State Crime Rate Up Slightly During 2000

Thursday, August 23, 2001
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

(SACRAMENTO) - Attorney General Bill Lockyer today released comprehensive California crime statistics for 2000 which show the first increase after eight consecutive years of declining crime rates in the state.

The California Department of Justice report "Crime and Delinquency in California, 2000 Advance Release" includes crimes and arrests reported by law enforcement jurisdictions in the state, and adult felony dispositions reported by police, sheriffs, prosecutors and courts.

Highlights of the report include:

From 1999 to 2000, the California Crime Index, or CCI, which includes reported violent crimes of homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, and property crimes of burglary and motor vehicle theft, increased 1.0 percent in rate per 100,000 population.
The violent crime rate did not change from 1999 to 2000.
Homicides increased 1.7 percent in rate during 2000.
Robberies decreased 1.0 percent in rate during 2000.
Forcible rapes increased 2.5 percent in rate during 2000
Aggravated assaults increased 0.2 percent in rate during 2000.
Property crimes increased 1.5 percent in rate from 1999 to 2000, with burglaries decreasing 2.0 percent and motor vehicle theft increasing 6.1 percent in rate during the year.
Overall, the arrest rate per 100,000 at risk population was down 6.6 percent from 1999 to 2000; the felony arrest rate for adults decreased 2.5 percent, and the felony arrest rate for juveniles dropped 10.2 percent during the same period.

"After eight straight years of declining crime rates in California, crime increased slightly per capita last year," said Lockyer. "The good news is that the crime rate remains at the same low level last seen in the 1960's and we continue to develop and implement revolutionary new law enforcement strategies, such as DNA technology, to improve our ability to identify and apprehend criminals. Together with effective crime prevention and early intervention programs it is my hope that children who are exposed to violence today won't become criminals in the future."

Next month, Lockyer and Secretary for Health and Human Services, Grantland Johnson, will jointly host a conference titled, "Why is Crime Down?" The conference, scheduled for September 19 and 20 at the Pasadena Hilton, will feature a research and evidence-based symposium to explore the reasons behind the decline in violence and violent crime in California in the 1990s. Leaders from state and local criminal justice, health and social services, government, and the community have been invited to attend the symposium in order to learn more about the problem of violence in California and what can be done to sustain the state's low crime rates.

The Crime and Delinquency, 2000 Advance Release is available on the Attorney General's website at http://ag.ca.gov/cjsc/. The publication contains data reported to the Department of Justice for the calendar year 2000. It displays reported crime rates per 100,000 in population for the periods 1995 through 2000, and adult felony arrest dispositions for 1994 through 1999. Earlier this year, a preliminary crime report was released by the Department of Justice which summarized crimes reported by 77 jurisdictions with populations exceeding 100,000 that represent about 65 percent of the state's total population. The Advance Release includes crime data from all law enforcement jurisdictions in the state, and is the first to calculate crime rates statewide. Crime rates for each county with a population over 100,000 are available upon request.

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