Report: Crime Rate on the Rise in Riverside County

By City News Service, image via Shutterstock

The first quarter of 2015 saw an increase in assaults and robberies in cities and unincorporated areas served by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

According to sheriff’s officials, the overall Part I crime rate edged up 1.7 percent from early January to the end of March. Part I crimes are classified by the FBI as offenses that include murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, auto theft and larceny.

Part I data are divided into two categories -- violent crime and property crime.

Sheriff’s statistics showed that an increase in robberies and assaults largely accounted for a 16 percent rise in violent crime in the first quarter of the year compared to the first three months of 2014. More vehicle thefts and larcenies drove the property crime rate up roughly 1 percent year-over-year.

Burglaries were down in the sheriff’s jurisdiction, numbering 1,667 reports between January and March, compared to 2,146 during the same period in 2014, according to statistics.

Homicides were also lower, with eight murders investigated during the first quarter of the year, as opposed to 10 in the year-ago quarter.

Sheriff’s officials noted that drug-related bookings were down 31 percent between January and April, and there were 15 percent fewer bookings for property crimes during that period.

Both drops were attributed to changes in state law stemming from Proposition 47, the initiative approved by voters in November that altered sentencing guidelines, making “non-serious” drug and property crimes misdemeanors instead of felonies.

Proposition 47 also called for re-sentencing individuals convicted of various felony drug and property crimes, enabling them to get out of prison.

Along with all of unincorporated Riverside County, the sheriff’s department provides law enforcement services in 17 of the county’s 28 cities.