A new study by the California Department of Justice sheds light on patterns and trends in firearms used in crimes.
The first annual crime gun in CaliforniaThe state’s annual Homicide in California, Crime in California, Forced Incident Reporting and Juvenile Justice in California statistical reports, released June 30.
“Access to good information is a cornerstone of responsible public policy. The information released today is essential to understanding, preventing and fighting crime,” said state Attorney General Rob Bonta. , but there is still more to come.
Here’s a snapshot of gun crime in Tulare County and the state.
Gun crimes in Tulare County
The report defines a “criminal firearm” as a weapon obtained by a law enforcement agency after it has been used in a crime, used in a crime, or illegally possessed. DOJ reviewed all crime gun data submitted to the agency between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2022.
During that time, Tulare County law enforcement seized 8,030 crime guns. There were 170.49 crimes per 10,000 people, according to the report. According to the American Community Survey, the county’s population in 2021 was 470,999.
By comparison, Los Angeles County, the state’s most populous county, reported 140,799 gun possessions. In Los Angeles County, there were 140 gun crimes per 10,000 people.
Among the key finds in the area for crime guns:
Visalia
Tulare
Over the past decade, California has experienced an increase in the number of unaccounted for guns used to commit crimes. In the year In 2022, crimes involving guns without serial numbers fell 7%, the first decline since 2013.
A gun may not have a serial number for a variety of reasons, including being an antique gun, being a homemade gun (“dead gun”), or having the serial number removed by illegal grinding.
The cities with the highest crime rates involving concealed handguns were Los Angeles with 4,968 or 12.44%, San Diego with 1,562 or 3.91%, San Francisco with 1,132 or 2.83%, and Sacramento with 1,088 or 2.72%.
Law enforcement in Tulare County has seized 367 firearms that were allegedly used to commit crimes. There were approximately eight guns without serial numbers used in crimes per 10,000 people.
Look at the crime across the country
While crime rates are below historic levels, property and violent crimes are plaguing communities, and gun violence remains “a major threat to public safety,” Bonta said.
The state’s gun death rate is below the national average, but gun violence will account for nearly three-quarters of all homicides in California in 2022.
“This is unacceptable,” Bonta said.
In the year Murder in 2022:
-
The homicide rate, defined as the number of homicides per 100,000 people in the state, decreased 5% in 2022 (from 6 per 100,000 in 2021 to 5.7 per 100,000 in 2022), from an all-time high in California of 12.9 in 2019.
-
In the year Although the population has grown from 31 million in 1993 to more than 39 million in 2022, the number of murders in 2022 is only half of what it was in 1993.
-
Guns continue to be the most common weapon in homicides. In the year In 2022, 73.6% of homicides, where the weapon was identified, involved a firearm.
-
Among California’s 36 counties with populations of 100,000 or more, Merced County reported the highest homicide rate (12.3 per 100,000) and Santa Cruz County the lowest (0.8 per 100,000).
-
Among homicides in which the victim’s relationship to the suspect was identified, women (37.1%) were more likely than men (7.7%) to be killed by their spouse, parent, or child.
-
In the year Murder arrests fell 4.2% from 1,550 in 2021 to 1,485 in 2022.
Crimes in 2022:
-
The violent crime rate – the number of violent crimes per 100,000 people – increased from 6.1% in 2021 to 494.6 in 2022, from 466.2 in 2021, down from California’s historic high of 1,103.9 in 1992.
-
The property crime rate increased 6.2% from 2,178.4 in 2021 to 2,313.6 in 2022, below California’s historic high of 6,880.6 in 1980.
-
The total incarceration rate fell 2.7% from 2,606.3 in 2021 to 2,535.2 in 2022, continuing a year-over-year downward trend that began in 2004 with a total incarceration rate of 5,385.5.
-
In the year In 2022, the total number of active adults will reach its lowest level since 1980 at 151,402.
-
Total full-time criminal justice workers — law enforcement, prosecutors, detectives, public defenders and probation officers — fell 1.4 percent.
This article originally appeared in the Visalia Times-Delta: California releases annual crime rates; ‘More will remain’