SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In 2021, the city of Sacramento saw significant increases in murder, rape, assault, and gun-related crimes compared to previous years, according to a video news release from the Sacramento Police Department.
On Wednesday, the Sacramento Police Department released a video explaining the city's 2021 crime statistics and how they plan to address violent crime in 2022.
In 2021, there were 58 homicides in Sacramento, which was the highest number of homicides in the city since 2006.
"2021 was challenging for the Sacramento community and our department as we saw a significant increase in homicides, shootings, assaults and other crimes," Chad Lewis a spokesperson for the Sacramento Police Department said in a video news release.
While these increases are concerning, Lewis says in the video they are concurrent with national crime trends as homicides in major American cities have had a 44% increase over 2019.
Here is an outline of Sacramento's 2021 crime statistics:
- 753 shooting reports, a 25% increase over 2020
- 256 reports of victims shot, a 17% increase over 2020
- 1,673 firearms seized, a 34% increase over 2020
- 1,166 arrests made for illegal firearm possession, a 38% increase over 2020
- Of those arrests, 410 of the firearms were found to be "ghost guns"
Crime categories with significant increases in 2021:
- Rape crimes: 31% increase over 2020
- Robbery: 27% increase over 2020
- Total Assault: 16% increase over 2020
- Motor vehicle theft: 26% increase over 2020
- Larceny: 9% increase over 2020
Sacramento police says so far in 2022, the city has already seen the tragic impact gun violence has on our community, the most notable incident of gun violence being the K Street shooting that left six people dead in April.
"As your police department, we remain committed to addressing all forms of violent crime through a comprehensive approach that includes feedback and input from you, the community, to work towards decreasing violence in our city through collaboration," Lewis says.
Lewis also says the Sacramento police is committed to using advanced technology, including their ShotSpotter gunshot detection system which alerts officers about incidents of gunfire in real-time, to make the city safer.
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