Santee Crime Rate Down in 2010, 11 Percent Drop in Violent Crime

fell 6 percent in 2010, compared to 2009, according to SANDAG and its annual report. The city’s violent crime rate also fell by 11 percent between 2009 and 2010.

Santee had 153 violent crimes in 2010—defined as  homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault— according to the San Diego Association of Governments in its report  “Thirty Years of Crime in the San Diego Region: 1981 through 2010.” (See attached.)

Among jurisdictions countywide, Santee's serious crime rate of 19.16 per 1,000 residents was the second lowest in East County only to Alpine—and well below the county average 24.65 per 1,000 residents.

In fact, SANDAG said: “In 2010, both the violent and property crime rates for the San Diego region decreased and were at new 30-year lows... Compared to the U.S. overall, the San Diego region had lower violent and property crime rates in 2009 (the most recent year national statistics are available).”

The 67 homicides in San Diego County in 2010 represented a 76 percent drop since 1991.  And “despite concerns that the economic downturn would result in more property crime, the number of burglaries and larcenies were at 30-year lows,” SANDAG said.

In raw numbers, the Santee Sheriff's Department in 2010 reported 9 rapes, 22 robberies, 122 aggravated assaults, 94 residential burglaries, 78 nonresidential burglaries, 159 stolen vehicles, all of which are than 2009, and 7 cases of arson and 628 larceny reports, which went up in 2010.

In 2009, $1.81 million worth of property was reported stolen in Santee, down 11 percent from 2009 and down a full 39 percent from 2006, SANDAG said.

SANDAG also tracked the number of domestic violence incidents. Santee had 251 cases in 2010.

How did our do in solving crimes?

The SANDAG report said Santee's law enforcement cleared 52 percent of violent crimes and 18 percent of property crimes in 2010—better than the county averages of 49 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

 “A crime is cleared or solved for reporting purposes when at least one person is arrested and charged with the offense,” SANDAG said.