Theft A Big Issue For Santa Monica In 2016

SANTA MONICA—A majority of the crimes reported in Santa Monica in 2016 involved theft in different contexts, according to statistics released in the Santa Monica Open Data Portal.

In 2015, theft topped the list of crimes with 3,250 incidents reported, 2016 also saw theft topping the list of crimes, with over 3,436 incidents reported out of the total of 9000 plus crimes reported in the city of Santa Monica.

The most recurring form of theft, with 1,144 incidents reported, was items stolen from vehicles. These statistics are based on the crime and incidents report provided by Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD), but the conviction rate for the reported crimes was not stated.

There were two reported homicides in 2016, Rudell James Jr., 35, on April 5 inside a downtown apartment. The other reported homicide was of Kris Anderson, 57, who was found dead on the 1300 block of 5th Street in June.

Delshone Tyrrell Bubsy was arrested for the murder of James Jr. He pleaded not guilty in court and has a pretrial hearing scheduled later this month, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court’s website. Theo Andrew Krah, a Navy SEAL, was charged in connection to the murder of Kris Anderson.

Assault was the second most reported crime in 2016 with 991 incidents reported, and an increase of over 104 incidents, compared to 877 assaults which were reported in 2015.

Burglary, unlawful entry into a structure to commit a felony, was third on list with 618 incidents reported followed by fraud with 593 incidents reported. Public intoxication was next on the list with 591 incidents reported; a significant drop from 768 in 2015 and 1,041 in 2014.

Reported sales of illegal drugs was 71 incidents in 2016, which more than doubled from 32 incidents in 2015.