Crime numbers drop in Fallbrook area

Crime numbers dropped significantly in the Sheriff's Fallbrook command area during the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2014, and that's no surprise to authorities.

"We have been making a significant number of arrests over the past several months," said Sheriff's Sgt. Patrick Yates. "I am a believer that you don't have a whole lot of people committing crimes in Fallbrook; it's the same people over and over. If you can make several arrests, the numbers come down significantly."

The statistics, gathered and analyzed by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) in the report "Crime in the San Diego Region Mid-Year 2015 Statistics," are reported in several crime categories. Two of those categories (in violent crime) typically show percentages of large swing (up or down) due to the minimal number experienced in this demographic.

For example, homicides were down 200 percent, and that is explained by the fact that no homicides occurred in the first half of this year, but two had taken place in the first half of 2014. Reported rapes were down 57 percent, with three occurring in the first six months of this year, compared to seven last year. Robberies numbered eight January through June this year, while 12 were documented last year, indicating a 34 percent reduction.

In categories with more incidents, residential burglaries were down 49 percent this year. The category reflected 37 crimes this year, versus 73 last year. In non-residential burglaries (such as vehicle burglary), the 2015 report reflected 33 reports, compared to 76 last year, reflecting a drop of 57 percent.

"In Fallbrook, we are very active in chasing bad guys rather than chasing crimes; we know who our offenders are and we chase them," said Yates. "Like our strategy with Assembly Bill 109 (early-release probationers), we take monitoring probationers and parolees very seriously and contact them regularly – at home as well as their place of employment. We let them know we are always keeping an eye on them."

Aggravated assault was a category that reflected a slight increase – of four percent. Fifty-seven cases were fielded this year, compared to 55 last year.

"The majority of assault arrests we make our domestic violence related," explained Yates. "We don't have a choice in the matter in certain cases; if domestic violence has occurred within certain parameters, we have to make an arrest, whether or not someone wants to press charges."

Vehicle theft, which seems to be a volatile category locally, taking sharp upticks as well as significant downturns throughout any given year, was down 46 percent in January through June with 24 cases, compared to 44 last year.

Larceny (petty theft with value under $400) increased this year by 17.5 percent with 127 cases, compared to 108 last year. However, grand larceny (general theft with value over $400) dropped by 16 percent with 79 cases thus far in 2015 versus 94 during the same time in 2014.

"For instance, we have had an uptick this week (Sept. 21-25) in the number of thefts from vehicles," said Yates. "This means people are going into unlocked vehicles to take items they can see inside. Those cases are not considered vehicle burglaries, because the car has to be locked for it to be considered a burglary."

Yates reminded residents that, "Simply locking your doors can prevent you from being victimized by certain criminals."

Definition of theft, burglary, and larceny:

Theft and larceny refer to the same thing – the taking of anything of value with an intent to permanently deprive the owner.

• Burglary is when someone commits the act of breaking and entering to conduct a theft, i.e. residential burglary and vehicle burglary.
• Crimes such as shoplifting, petty theft, etc. are deemed larceny. Law enforcement separates those thefts - larceny under $400 in value and over $400 in value (grand larceny).
• Robbery is the act of forcibly stealing something from another person - either by the use of physical force or verbal threat.