2008 Saw Slight Increase in Reported Theft, Larceny

Santa Barbara City residents experienced a slight increase in what the FBI defines as serious “Part I” crimes in 2008 in comparison to the year before, due in significant measure to a rise in the amount of reported larceny and theft complaints.

Police noted 1,912 larceny complaints in 2008, compared to 1,589 the year before. In addition, there were 36 more aggravated assaults reported in 2008 than and 17 more robberies. Conversely, the number of rape reports dropped from 44 to 26, burglary reports from 593 to 488, motor vehicle theft reports from 166 to 114 and arson reports from 45 to 32. The number of murder reports remained the same, with three reported each year.

Looking back at the last decade, last year’s crime statistics were lower than six of the previous 10 years and more than four.