More Arrests and Less Crime Reported in Ramona Compared to Last Year

An increase in arrests and a decrease in reported crimes in Ramona are linked and a positive sign, Lt. James Bovet said at the Thursday meeting of the Ramona Sheriff's Citizen Advisory Group.

There has been a dramatic decrease in reported crimes of all types in Ramona this year- nearly half the number reported in 2012, according to data released by the Sheriff's Department (see data tables attached).

There were 590 crimes reported year-to-date (YTD) in 2012 and through October of this year there were 306 crimes reported. Broken down by type, there were 30 fewer violent crimes YTD in 2013 compared to 2012, and 254 fewer property crimes.

The number of arrests have jumped by about 1/3 in the same period of time, 911 total arrests so far this year. In October there were 92 arrests, 17 of them juveniles. Two-thirds of those arrested have drugs or alcohol in their system Bovet said.

Burglary and theft reports were reduced by about half compared to last year, which Bovet attributes partially to the break up of several burglary rings and the networks that support them.

"When a criminal is in jail, he's not committing crimes," said Bovet when asked about the link between the arrest and crime rate statistics.

The crime rate in Ramona last year was 20 reported crimes per 1,000 residents, which Bovet said was a high rate for the area. This year that rate has been knocked down to 10-11, with 10.3 last month. Bovet said his stretch goal is to get that rate to down to eight.

Assaults were on the rise in the last six months, but were cut in half in October. Bovet said that locally, two-thirds of reported assaults are between family members and most of the remainder know each other. Rarely are there assaults between strangers in Ramona, such as the recent hatchet attack.

Other notable data:

• Three homicides were reported YTD in 2012, none reported so far in 2013.
• 17 robberies reported YTD 2012, two reported so far in 2013.