Fresno crime rates fall, even as California sees a rise. Police chief says he knows why
Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama was at a community event when a man came up to chat.
“We have got to do something about this crime problem,” the man told the chief.
Balderrama had a ready answer. Contrary to other cities in the state, Fresno’s main crime categories were down, he explained.
The man was stunned. How could that be, he wondered.
There are several answers.
First, the Fresnan is not alone in believing crime is a problem in California. A statewide survey done by the Public Policy Institute of California last November found that two in three residents see violence and street crime as a major problem in their community.
The survey also found that 60% of Republicans say crime has increased in the last year, compared to Democrats, with 60% of them saying it has remained the same.
To be sure, crime in California has become a regular talking point for Republican politicians. The state GOP organization just issued a news release with a section headlined “California Democrats’ Crime Crisis.”
The constant repeating of that message by conservatives has an effect over time.
But, in fact, in the last year crime has gone up statewide. Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, recently issued a yearly recap of crime in California. The 2022 report showed California’s violent crime rate increased by 6.1% since 2021, and property crime was up 6.2%. Homicides dipped slightly, but robberies jumped by 10.2%.
The trend is Fresno is different.
Fresno rates way down
I met with Balderrama in his downtown office, and he surprised me with the following numbers, comparing the period of Jan. 1 through July 11 of 2022 to the same time this year:
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