The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department’s 2020 crime statistics show a small increase in violent offenses and a 20% increase in property-related offenses such as theft compared with the previous year.
The report includes totals for Part 1 crimes, which are more serious offenses, and Part 2 crimes, which are less serious offenses, for Santa Barbara County unincorporated areas and the four cities of Buellton, Solvang, Goleta and Carpinteria, which contract with the sheriff’s department for law enforcement services.
Overall numbers decreased in 2020 compared with the previous year because of a lower number of Part 2 crimes, according to the report.
“Broken down further, our communities experienced a 7% increase in Part 1 violent crime in 2020 when compared with 2019, but this was still 9% below the preceding 10-year average. In 2020, our communities experienced a 20% increase in Part 1 property crimes over the previous year, which was also a 5% increase against the 10-year average,” the department said in a statement.
Violent crimes are offenses that involve force or a threat of force and include criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crimes are theft-related offenses that do not involve threats or force against the victim and include burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.
Scroll down to read the complete 2020 crime report.
Increases in Part 1 property crimes were mostly driven by the 2,010 thefts reported (including hundreds of thefts from vehicles), the highest number of the 2011-20 period.
Zero homicides were reported in 2020 within the jurisdiction.
The most significant increases in Part 1 violent crimes in 2020 were rape cases, which increased 71% compared with 2019, and robbery, which showed a 32% increase, according to the statistics.
In 2020, more than 70% of the violent crimes were aggravated assaults, and nearly 80% of the property crimes were thefts.
Part 2 crimes, including lesser offenses and some juvenile offenses, decreased 15% compared with 2019 overall, and almost all categories declined or remained statistically similar to the previous year, sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick said in a statement about the report.
The two exceptions to that were driving under the influence violations, which increased 17%, and disorderly conduct, which increased 28%.
It is unclear how the social and economic circumstances of the novel coronavirus pandemic may have affected crime rates.
In the past, Sheriff Bill Brown credited the long-term declines in local crime rates to the collaborative efforts occurring within the community and throughout the criminal justice system in the county, Zick said.
“2020 brought significant challenges and changes to the criminal justice system in Santa Barbara County, including a significantly reduced jail population due to the adoption of the emergency zero-dollar bail practices at the state and local level,” Brown said in a statement. “We are concerned that those changes may have had a negative impact on crime rates, and, in turn, resulted in an increased fear of crime in our communities.
“We are closely scrutinizing this crime data and will continue to seek ways to maintain public safety by targeting certain criminals, but also by holding offenders accountable through alternatives to jail.”
There are multiple efforts to divert people from the criminal justice system and to reduce the in-custody population, particularly during the pandemic.
Before the pandemic-era programs to reduce the Main Jail population, the majority of people held in custody were awaiting trial and had not been convicted or sentenced. In 2018, 42% of people being held in custody at the jail had bail of $10,000 or less, which is for low-level offenses, Noozhawk has previously reported.
The in-custody population was about 900 in February 2020, and the average daily population from April to December was 604, according to Zick.
A recent consultant report recommended that the county expand diversion programs to reduce the number of people in custody awaiting trial, and noted that while the jail population has been dropping, the number of custody staff has been increasing.
2020 Crime Statistics for Buellton, Solvang, Goleta and Carpinteria
The cities of Buellton, Solvang, Goleta and Carpinteria contract with the sheriff’s department for law enforcement services.
Buellton reported 89 total Part 1 crimes, which was an increase of about 30 from the previous year, mostly because of property crime reports.
In 2020, Carpinteria reported 257 total Part 1 crimes, the most reported since 2017, including 21 reports of violent crime.
Goleta reported its highest Part 1 crimes since 2011, with 647 total Part 1 crimes, including 60 reports of violent crime.
Solvang had a drop in total Part 1 crimes, and nearly 90% of the 72 cases reported were property-related.
“Our effectiveness in maintaining public safety within each of these cities is a result of ongoing collaboration with their city councils, their leadership teams and the communities we serve,” Zick said. “We are committed to working with our contract cities to address negative crime trends that arise.”
Managing editor Giana Magnoli contributed reporting to this story.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office 2020 Part 1 & 2 Crime Stats Report
