PALMDALE – Serious crime in Palmdale dropped 9.9 percent in 2016 from 2015, city officials said Monday.
“We’re continuing to experience a reduction of crime within our community,” Capt. Dennis Kneer of the sheriff’s Palmdale Station said. “This is due to the teamwork efforts of the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station, city staff, community members and the support of our elected officials.”
There were 3,459 Part 1 crimes in 2016, compared to 3,840 in 2015, according to FBI statistics cited by the city. [View the statistics here.]
Part 1 crimes include such violent acts as homicide, aggravated assault and forcible rape and property crimes such as arson, robbery, burglary and various forms of theft.
There were eight homicides and 45 rapes in Palmdale in 2016, compared to seven and 44, respectively, in 2015.
Aggravated assaults dropped from 528 in 2015 to 422 in 2016, a decrease of just over 20 percent, officials said.
Robberies were down from 251 in 2015 to 222 last year, a decrease of 11.55 percent, according to city officials.
Burglaries were also down, from 803 in 2015 to 646 in 2016, a drop of 19.55 percent.
Arson showed an increase of 55 percent..
Overall property crime was down 8.48 percent.
“It’s no secret that in Palmdale, public safety is our number one focus,” said Mayor Jim Ledford. “It’s a foundation that helps us build the kind of community where people want to live and where businesses want to come and grow. Our tried and true method of working in partnership with law enforcement, city staff—under the leadership of City Manager Jim Purtee—and our residents continues to produce good results. We’ve got more work to do, but we are certainly heading in the right direction.”
“Our continued reduction in crime and our current crime numbers are a direct reflection of the hard work of our Palmdale Sheriff’s Station Deputies and our community’s willingness to partner with them and the city to make a difference,” said Palmdale’s Director of Neighborhood Services, Mike Miller.
For more information about the city of Palmdale’s neighborhood services department, call 661-267-5181.
CAP'N LANCASTER says
Ole Rex was asked why Crime is higher in Lancaster than Palmdale and the rest of the County. Ole Rex says”We make twice the number of contacts. … If you look at the numbers, if the numbers are reflective of their performance, then they are aggressive.”
Earth to Ole Rex! Earth to Ole Rex! Of course we make twice the number of contacts in Lancaster. We gots twice as much bad stuff happenin. Maybe if he took a Drive through East Lancaster sometime he could see what the heck is goin on in our City. Problem is he dont live here. He lives at his Beach Mansion in Laguna
Tim Scott says
If Wrecks drove through East Lancaster he still wouldn’t have a clue what was happening because he couldn’t make that drive without the equivalent of a presidential motorcade.