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Crime rising in SLO, but violent crime down

March 20, 2017

Crime in San Luis Obispo increased by 11 percent in 2016, according to the city’s police department. Violent crime, however, decreased by 7 percent.

On Friday, the San Luis Obispo Police Department issued a news release detailing 2016 crime statistics and providing comparisons to 2015 data. SLOPD says crime in San Luis Obispo reflects statewide trends, particularly a rise in property crime.

While overall crime increased, it grew at a diminishing rate. In 2015, crime in San Luis Obispo increased by 21 percent.

In terms of violent crime, there were 38 rapes, 21 robberies and 118 aggravated assaults in SLO in 2016, according to SLOPD crime data.

The most common crime in 2016 was theft from vehicles. SLOPD tallied 673 reported incidents of theft from vehicles, a 52 percent increase from 2015.

Police Chief Deanna Cantrell attributed the prevalence of theft from vehicles in part to San Luis Obispo’s culture and to the 2014 state ballot measure Prop. 47, which reduced penalties for certain drug possession and theft offenses.

The increase in theft from vehicles “reflects in part a cultural issue in the city, with people failing to lock their doors and remove items of value due to a false sense of security,” Cantrell said.

SLO’s police chief also said, as a result of Prop. 47, the number of adults placed on misdemeanor probation increased by 44 percent. Misdemeanor probation carries little or no supervision, the chief said.

Rehabilitation efforts that do not punish offenders for lack of cooperation fail and translate directly to more crime, particularly property crime, Cantrell said.

Cantrell also noted in the news release that SLOPD is facing a staffing shortage due to retirements, terminations and injuries. Consequently, some special assignment teams that work on crime prevention have been shifted to general patrol duties, Cantrell said.


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IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU HAVE THE SERVICE PROVIDED OF FREE NEWS. PLEASE CONSIDER A MAKING A DONATION TO CAL COAST NEWS. CONSIDER IT A SUBSCRIPTION FEE.


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I would venture that statistics bear out a direct correlation to the number of crimes and the number of “homeless” in SLO. Keep me coming….


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Prove out your “venture” there copperhead or just keep it to yourself. The homeless population of this country are held accountable for enough and don’t need another bullshit “venture” to complicate their lives. Nationwide your “venture” doesn’t hold water as a homeless person is less likely to commit a crime as a housed individual (look it up, idiot!). I can’t find any numbers to either prove or disprove your “venture” so from a personal perspective I call PURE BULLSHIT on your “venture”, one more in tune with fear mongering than a reasonable guess!


One more thing, the number of homeless in SLO have decreased since 2013, just that alone flies in the face of your “venture”…


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You keep on using that word “venture” . Unfortunately it does not mean what you think it means. One does not prove something after saying, I would venture..it means I would speculate. That is why I would venture is often followed by the words “a guess”.


Thus I need not prove something which I venture (with or without quotations). I am stating an opinion.


Your logic is about as strong as your football team’s offense.


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The la rams comment is clearly a fact that can be easily backed up by statistics. I would not venture that the rams suck. It is a proven fact. Does that help?


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Oh, okay! So it’s pure bullshit, right? Just throw out a “venture” and it relieves you of any responsibility for what you say? Is that it? Typical coward ass SLO bullshit…


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Your emotions are very easy to manipulate. Perhaps put some of that energy into helping the homeless bums you defend so ardently.


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Enough, both of you.


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Easy to reduce your “violent” crime numbers when you just rewrite the definition of which crimes are violent and which are non-violent.


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Let’s get to the point.


Crime is on the rise because of proposition 47 and 57. End of story.


If you’re not familiar, the measure required misdemeanor sentencing instead of felony for the following crimes:


Shoplifting, where the value of property stolen does not exceed $950

Grand theft, where the value of the stolen property does not exceed $950

Receiving stolen property, where the value of the property does not exceed $950

Forgery, where the value of forged check, bond or bill does not exceed $950

Fraud, where the value of the fraudulent check, draft or order does not exceed $950

Writing a bad check, where the value of the check does not exceed $950

Personal use of most illegal drugs

In January 2015, it was announced that as many as 1 million Californians could be eligible to change past felony convictions on their records under Proposition 47.


That means that career criminals get a slap on the wrist and are then are released to continue to terrorize our neighborhood by burglarizing and stealing from hard working citizens.


OH, BUT WAIT.. as if that isn’t bad enough, we also have Prop 57 to look forward to which reclassifies “non-violent” (please notice the quotation marks) into misdemeanors. Some of those so called “non-violent” crimes include:


Rape by intoxication

Rape of an unconscious person

Human trafficking involving sex act with minors

Drive-by shooting

Assault with a deadly weapon

Taking a hostage

Domestic violence involving trauma

Supplying a firearm to a gang member

Lewd acts upon a child

Hate crime causing physical injury

Failing to register as a sex offender

Arson causing great bodily injury

Felon obtaining a firearm

Discharging a firearm on school grounds

False imprisonment of an elder


I can only imagine how bad it’s going to get in the months and years to come as these criminals continue to work the system.


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First of all, crime has decreased overall significantly over the last 15 years, to the level it was in the late 1960s. Secondly, if there has been any increase due to proposition 47, it’s a temporary situation. There will be long term benefits from not completely marginalizing people who have committed a crime, making it difficult for them to get a job, and making their kids grow up without that parent around.


The problems we see are the manifestation of long term consequence of the policies of the 1980s and 1990s, in particular the drug war.


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My first thought was “they must have re-defined some things” – thank you for that list, it’s rather eye-opening.


It is like the jobs numbers when Obama was in. They kept changing and massaging the formula so the unemployment numbers would not look as bad as they actually were. Being partial to figures, statistics and such, I was appalled that it was so easily dismissed by many who should have known better.


I just thank God for CCN, without this site, I’d really not know what is going on in SLO and the central coast. I cannot trust the other media in the area, and I’ll still take stuff on CCN with a grain of salt (as we all should), but they have the best track record in my experience. Guess it’s time to donate (again).


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All of those crimes you described (above the “Oh, But Wait”…) can either be charged as a felony OR misdemeanor which means a first time offender CAN be sent to prison if so deemed by the prosecutor as being a fitting punishment. They are referred to as “wobblers” and are subject to “degrees” in severity as to the appropriate felony or misdemeanor designation.


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Crime is rising but only a little bit? and violent crime is not rising? Soooooo we should be happy? Come back next year and tell us crime is down, all crime, and then I’ll be happy. Geeze!


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That’s because the term “violent” is apparently extremely subjective to CA lawmakers and voters who ushered these laws in with a vote of almost 64%. Shameful that people don’t read the ballots and even more shameful that politicians write with ballots as “The Safe Schools and Neighborhood Act” as prop 47 was.


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