The Santa Maria Police Department's statistical analysis shows crime rates have gone down in the city since 2022.
The report included an in-depth look at Part 1 crimes, which include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
According to the report, these crimes decreased by 30% in Santa Maria during the first four months of 2024, compared to the same time period one year earlier. This follows a 28 percent reduction in those crimes in 2023 compared to 2022.
The report also shows that when comparing January to April of 2022 to 2024, overall crime decreased by 46%.
The number of motor vehicle thefts also substantially decreased, which Chief Marc Schneider attributes to the City's deployment of automated license plate readers beginning in January 2022.
Motor vehicle thefts totaled 1,152 in 2022, dropped to 751 in 2023 which was a 35% reduction, and there were 147 stolen vehicles during the first four months of 2024 which is a 65% reduction when compared to the first four months of 2022.
