City of Anaheim - Anaheim Ranks First in Solving Violent Crime Cases for Fourth Consecutive Year

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Anaheim Ranks First in Solving Violent Crime Cases for Fourth Consecutive Year

ANAHEIM, CA - (September 23, 2003) - The State of California’s Department of Justice and the Criminal Justice Statistics Center recently released their 2002 statistics showing Anaheim as the number one city for violent crime clearance rates for the fourth consecutive year. The Anaheim Police Department successfully cleared 72 percent of the violent crime cases in the City in 2002, besting all of California’s cities with populations greater than 200,000 people.

According to the California Criminal Justice Statistics Center, violent crimes are considered offenses such as homicide, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In 2002, Anaheim’s “clearances” (cases successfully solved) numbered 1,000 out of 1,389 reported violent crimes.

2002 also marks the fourth consecutive year that Anaheim’s violent crime clearance rates have topped 70 percent. Only three other California cities with populations of more than 200,000 had a 50 percent or better clearance rate: San Diego (60%), Fremont (58%), and Bakersfield (54%). The average clearance rate for violent crimes in the largest California cities is 43 percent.

Anaheim’s 24 percent clearance rate for property crimes also earned the City the top spot among California’s largest cities. In 2002, the Anaheim Police Department cleared 930 property crimes, which include offenses such as burglary and vehicle theft.

Despite a slight increase in overall crime, Anaheim’s crime levels continue to be at the lowest point in more than a quarter century.

The following graphs show the number of violent crimes and the number of clearances in Anaheim since 1995, and the 2002 clearance rates for 15 cities in California with populations over 200,000.
Violent Crimes Cleared Rate Property Crimes Cleared Rate
Anaheim 1,389 1,000 72% 3,864 930 24%
San Diego 7,193 4,292 60% 18,354 1,441 8%
Fremont 390 227 58% 1,628 313 19%
Bakersfield 1,071 582 54% 3,834 721 19%
Long Beach 3,626 1,693 47% 7,147 785 11%
Los Angeles 51,695 22,306 43% 59,484 5,705 10%
Riverside 2,026 865 43% 4,995 341 7%
Glendale 495 197 40% 1,648 213 13%
Fresno 3,780 1,392 37% 11,651 1,039 9%
San Jose 4,134 1,415 34% 6,363 481 8%
Santa Ana 1,930 658 34% 3,623 300 8%
Oakland 5,661 1,796 32% 10,511 808 8%
Stockton 3,693 1,184 32% 6,418 698 11%
San Francisco 6,059 1,896 31% 12,144 854 7%
Sacramento 3,547 1,037 29% 11,685 978 8%

YEAR VIOLENT CRIME/CLEARED RATE
1995 2,475/1,549 63%
1996 2,071/1,023 49%
1997 1,964/1,128 57%
1998 1,518/1,061 69%
1999 1,639/1,243 76%
2000 1,413/1,063 75%
2001 1,316/945 72%
2002 1,389/1,000 72%

Media Contact: Ruth Ruiz 714.765.5060 more city news

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ABOUT ANAHEIM - The City of Anaheim, founded in 1857, is one of the nation's premier municipalities and is California's 10th most populous city. Anaheim covers 50 square miles with more than 345,500 residents and more than 3,200 City employees. The municipal corporation's annual budget is $1.4 billion. Anaheim supports a thriving business community with companies such as Carl Karcher Enterprises, Inc., L-3 Communications, Pacific Sunwear, and Disneyland Resort. Successful sports franchises call Anaheim home, including Angels Baseball, Anaheim Ducks, the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal winning U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team, and the 2008 Olympic Silver Medal winning U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team. Anaheim also boasts world-class meeting and entertainment venues with the Anaheim Convention Center, the largest on the west coast, Honda Center, The Grove of Anaheim, The Shops at Anaheim GardenWalk, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Annually, Anaheim welcomes millions of visitors to the city, truly making it where the world comes to live, work and play. For more information, please visit www.anaheim.net.