Does it feel as if San Diego crime is down?

On March 10, the San Diego Police Department posted an online graphic of their 2020 Annual Crime Statistics stating that overall crime was lower by 8.4 percent throughout the city of San Diego. The department broke down the numbers of each crime: burglary dropped 6.2 percent; vehicle theft dropped 4.2 percent; rape dropped 13.5 percent; robbery dropped 10.3 percent.

".....There's no way theft is lower by 12.9 percent," John S. opined. "Did they not count the porch pirates stealing Amazon packages? My Otay Mesa West neighbors complain daily on NextDoor about stolen packages."

In John's south San Diego neighborhood — which is bordered by the 805, 905, and 5 freeways, and south of Chula Vista — there were 120 theft/larceny reports made from January 2020 to December 2020, according to the ARJIS UCR [Automated Regional Justice Information System Uniform Crime Reporting] study. Of the 120 thefts, 57 were valued at more than $400, while 63 were less than $400. The automated report was posted on the SanDiego.gov website on March 16; it breaks down the numbers of crime types reported in each San Diego neighborhood.

"On our NextDoor app, I'd see 10-15 porch pirate reports in a week alone," John continued. "We would pass that 120 [2020 theft/larceny number] in three slow months. Maybe, most of our neighbors don't report their stolen packages to the police, and claim [a refund or a replaced product] directly through Amazon, PayPal, eBay, or the credit card companies."

On a 2019 UCR search of theft/larceny reports in John's neighborhood, 143 reports were made.

"There were 23 fewer theft/larceny reports in 2020 as compared to 2019?" questioned Steve H., John's friend.

"I don't think vehicle theft is down 4.2 percent either," Steve continued, "not to mention catalytic converter thefts. Both [types of] crimes seem more apparent on Facebook and NextDoor, or it could be that we were online more since the March 2020 lockdown."

According to the UCR report, in 2020, Otay Mesa West had 115 reported auto thefts. Pacific Beach had the highest reported auto thefts in the city at 216; San Ysidro followed at 214.

"I'd guess rape was down as bars were closed most of the year," commented a Golden Hill dweller on NextDoor. "So much of the year we couldn't go out to bars, or the hours were limited, and drinking-based events were canceled."

On the UCR report, there were 485 rape reports throughout the city; the East Village neighborhood had the highest number of accounts at 24.

Also, on the 2020 Annual Crime Statistics graphic posted: aggravated assault increased by 9.1 percent, and the murder rate increased by 10 percent — according to the UCR report, there were a reported 56 murders in the city of San Diego.