Crime rates have dropped 16.9% across Santa Barbara County, continuing to fall from last year, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The agency released new numbers last week showing a drop in violent and property crimes across unincorporated areas and the cities where it contracts as law enforcement: Carpinteria, Goleta, Buellton and Solvang.

There were 2,225 Part 1 incidents in 2023, which include violent crimes and property crimes, according to the Sheriff’s Office. That number is lower than the 2,679 incidents reported in 2022.

“The overall Part 1 crime total was the lowest it has been during the past 10 years.
That is a remarkable accomplishment given the challenges that have been faced this past year, including the proliferation of fentanyl in our communities and the related surge in overdose deaths,” Sheriff Bill Brown said in a statement.

The overall number of violent crimes was slightly up, with 377 incidents compared to 356 incidents last year, mostly due to an increase in aggravated assault reports.

Part 2 crimes, which include lesser criminal offenses and some juvenile offenses, dropped about 6% across all the Sheriff’s Office jurisdictions from 2022 to 2023.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, crime reports in contract cities and unincorporated areas peaked in 2021 and began to drop in 2022. Last year’s numbers continue that trend of decreasing crime reports.

Unincorporated areas, excluding Isla Vista, saw a decrease of 22.7% for Part 1 crimes last year.

In Isla Vista specifically, the number of violent and property Part 1 crimes also decreased compared to last year.

Violent crimes dropped from 14 incidents in 2022 to 5 in 2023.

Property crimes also decreased from 72 incidents in 2022 to 52 in 2023. Additionally, motor vehicle thefts dropped from 6 reports in 2022 to 3 last year.

Crime Trends in Contract Cities

Buellton saw reports decrease in multiple categories. Part 1 crimes decreased from 99 in 2022 to 74 in 2023, a reduction of 25.3%, the Sheriff’s Office said. There were three violent crimes reported last year and 71 property crimes, both lower than the previous year.

Goleta saw Part 1 crimes drop from 601 incidents in 2022 to 533 in 2023, a drop of 11.3%. The city reported 56 violent crimes in 2023– an increase from 49 incidents in 2022.

Property crime reports dropped from 552 incidents in 2022 to 477 in 2023– a reduction of 13.6%. This category includes burglary, which fell from 88 incidents in 2022 to 65 in 2023, and larceny theft, which dropped from 422 to 362.

However, motor vehicle thefts increased from 33 incidents in 2022 to 46 last year.

Solvang saw a drop in Part 1 crimes from 86 incidents in 2022 to 57 in 2023, a decrease of 33.7%. Violent crimes saw a drop from 14 the previous year to 5 in 2023.

Reports of property crime also fell in 2023. The Sheriff’s Office reported 72 incidents in 2022 and 52 in 2023.

Carpinteria saw a mixed trend from 2022 to 2023. Part 1 crimes grew overall, from 201 in 2022 to 218 in 2023, an 8.5% increase. The increase was due to a few dozen more theft and motor vehicle theft cases. However, violent crimes decreased from 32 in 2022 to 21 in 2023.

Police Departments Report Similar Trends

Other parts of the region have also been noticing a drop in crime rates.

Part 1 crimes dropped by 30% in Santa Maria during the first four months of 2024, according to the Santa Maria Police Department.

Violent crimes in Santa Barbara dropped from 526 in 2022 to 503 in 2023, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department. Aggravated assaults fell from 382 to 360 in 2023, robbery dropped from 88 to 76, and homicide fell from 4 to 1. The only violent crime category that saw an increase last year was rape, which grew from 52 to 66 reports.

Property crimes fell from 2013 in 2022 to 1592 in 2023. That includes declines in the number of reported residential burglaries, burglaries from vehicles, and other thefts. However, reports of grand theft auto grew from 183 to 191.

Reflecting on Crime Reports

These statistics represent reported crimes, and some crimes do go unreported, noted Undersheriff Craig Bonner.

Some offenses, such as larceny theft, may not always be reported to law enforcement because people do not believe there will be an arrest or conviction, he told Noozhawk.

“We hear about it all the time. There is all kinds of talk on social media of crimes that are occurring in an neighborhood, but we go to check our records and there’s no reports of a crime,” Bonner said.

Bonner said some crimes paint a clearer picture of trends in the county, such as crimes that require a police report for insurance purposes.

“There are some things that are very relevant,” Bonner said. “If you look at the aggravated assault numbers, those are incidents that are likely to be reported at a high level.”

Read the full Sheriff’s Office report on 2023 Crime Stats here.