Every category dropped from 2008 to 2009: eight percent each for robbery and homicide; and 15 percent for auto theft.
Sacramento State criminal justice professor Tim Croisdale credits the better use of intelligence by law enforcement.
Croisdale: “The police can analyze and use their own data to police what the problems are – whether specific types of crimes or specific offenders in any area, they can use the intelligence better to go after those crimes or go after those offenders.”
The conventional wisdom holds that crime goes up during a recession. And there are fewer cops on the streets because of city and county budget cuts. But Croisdale says there’s only a slight correlation between crime and the economy. And he says police departments are getting better at utilizing the officers and resources they have.
Sacramento County saw smaller drops in violent and non-violent crime than the statewide average. Rapes and burglaries actually went up. But homicides dropped by nearly 30 percent.