REGION: Report says county's arrest rates at 10-year low

By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 19, 2008 7:17 PM PST ∞

Fewer adults and juveniles in San Diego County were arrested in 2007 than in 2006, according to a county report released this week.

And arrest rates ---- the number of people arrested per 1,000 residents ---- hit a 10-year low in 2007, a year with the lowest crime rate in 25 years, said the report by Cynthia Burke, director of the San Diego Association of Government's Criminal Justice Research Division.

Most cities around the North County mirrored the regional arrest trends, with Vista providing a dramatic exception. There, the adult arrest rate rose by 28 percent from 2006 to 2007, while the juvenile arrest rate rose 33 percent.

Vista Sheriff's Station Capt. Tim Curran said the increase was in part to stepped-up enforcement in problem areas identified by the station's crime analyst.

"By increasing staffing, we've been able to be more proactive in higher crime areas," he said.

Vista's adult arrest rate rose from 30.7 per 1,000 people in 2006 to 39.4 per 1,000 in 2007; its juvenile arrest rate rose from 30.2 per 1, 000 in 2006 to 40.1 per 1,000 in 2007.

Curran said he expected the city's arrest rate to rise again in 2008.

Countywide, about one in two adult arrests in 2007 was drug- or alcohol-related, the report says, and the most common arrest was for misdemeanor driving under the influence.

Adult arrest rates in the county decreased 5 percent, from 43.2 per 1,000 people in 2006 to 40.9 per 1,000 in 2007, according to the report.

Among the state's large counties, the crime rate was lower here than in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, but higher than in Orange and Riverside counties.

Juvenile arrest rates also were down a little, with 49.7 arrests per 1,000 juveniles in 2007 compared to 50.5 arrests per 1,000 juveniles in 2006, according to the report. Among other large counties, San Diego County had the second-highest juvenile arrest rate after San Bernardino County.

However, juvenile arrest rates here have been decreasing since 1998, when the rate was 70.2 per 1,000 juveniles, the report says.

SANDAG collects data provided by individual police departments, sheriff's stations and other law enforcement agencies. The report, "Arrests 2007: Law Enforcement Response to Crime in the San Diego Region," compiles the arrest data, but provides little analysis.

Burke, the report's author, said the region's drop in crime probably corresponded to fewer criminals to arrest. But she cautioned that annual crime rates and arrest rates cannot be directly compared because a crime could happen years before someone is arrested for it.

Burke said the dramatic decrease in the juvenile crime rate since 1998 ---- from 70.2 per 1,000 to 49.7 arrests per 1,000 ---- was one of the report's most heartening findings. She said it showed law enforcement efforts, such as curfew enforcement and truancy sweeps, were working.

"There's been a lot of recognition throughout the region that truancy can be associated with other crimes," she said.

She also credited a county juvenile probation program founded in the late '90s with preventing many young people from re-offending.

Although juvenile arrest rates fell by 2 percent overall, the juvenile arrest rate for felony crimes rose by 5 percent in 2007 compared to the year before, according to the report.

Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com

2007 arrest rates per 1,000 people:

Carlsbad: 32.1

Escondido: 51.3

Oceanside: 58.9

Del Mar: 18.2

Encinitas: 19.8

Poway: 14.0

San Marcos: 18.8

Solana Beach: 12.6

Vista: 39.4

Unincorporated: 19.1

Change since 2006:

Carlsbad: -2%

Escondido: -6%

Oceanside: +1%

Del Mar: -51%

Encinitas: -5%

Poway: -21%

San Marcos: -9%

Solana Beach: -14%

Vista: 28%

Unincorporated: -3%