FBI Releases Preliminary Annual Crime Statistics for 2009

Preliminary 2009 statistics indicate that violent crime in the nation decreased 5.5 percent and property crime declined 4.9 percent when compared with data from 2008, according to the FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, which was released today. Data in the report came from 13,237 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 months of data in both 2008 and 2009.

Violent Crime

All four violent crime offenses—murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault—declined nationwide in 2009 when compared with 2008 data.

Robbery dropped 8.1 percent,

murder decreased 7.2 percent,

aggravated assault declined 4.2 percent,

and forcible rape decreased 3.1 percent.

Violent crime fell in all city groupings. The largest decrease, 7.5 percent, was in cities with populations ranging from 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants. Violent crime declined 4.0 percent in the nation’s metropolitan counties and 3.0 percent in nonmetropolitan counties.

Cities with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants were the only city population group to report an increase in the number of murders, 5.3 percent. The number of murders in the nation’s nonmetropolitan counties also rose, 1.8 percent. Forcible rape trends dropped in all city population groups. The largest decrease was 7.3 percent in cities of less than 10,000 residents. Metropolitan counties reported a 3.7 percent decline in the number of rapes, but the number of rapes reported in nonmetropolitan counties rose slightly, 0.3 percent. All population groups reported decreases in the volume of robbery in 2009. Of the city groups, cities with populations of 100,000 to 249,999 had the largest decrease at 10.3 percent. Metropolitan counties reported a 6.7 percent drop in robberies; nonmetropolitan counties reported a 0.7 percent decline.
The number of aggravated assaults declined in all population groups, with cities of 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants reporting a 6.3 percent decrease. Aggravated assaults declined 3.7 percent in nonmetropolitan counties and 3.0 percent in metropolitan counties.

All four regions in the nation showed decreases in violent crime in 2009 when compared with data from 2008. Violent crime decreased 6.6 percent in the South, 5.6 percent in the West, 4.6 percent in the Midwest, and 3.5 percent in the Northeast.

Property Crime

All property crime offenses—burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft—decreased in 2009 when compared with 2008 data. Motor vehicle theft showed the largest drop in volume at 17.2 percent, larceny-thefts declined 4.2 percent, and burglaries decreased 1.7 percent.
The nation’s largest cities, one million or more inhabitants, reported the greatest decrease, 7.9 percent, in property crime overall. Of the city groupings, this population group also reported the biggest decreases in the offenses that comprise property crime: a 21.1 percent drop in motor vehicle theft, a 5.7 percent decline in burglary, and a 5.5 percent decrease in larceny-theft. In the nation’s nonmetropolitan counties, larceny-thefts fell 9.5 percent; in metropolitan counties, larceny-thefts declined 5.9 percent. The only population group to indicate a rise in any type of property crime was in nonmetropolitan counties, where burglary rose 0.5 percent.
In comparing 2008 data and 2009 data by region, law enforcement agencies in the West reported the biggest decline in property crime, with a decrease of 6.8 percent. Property crime declined 5.6 percent in the Midwest, 5.3 percent in the Northeast, and 3.2 percent in the South.

Arson

Arson offenses, which are tracked separately from other property crimes, declined 10.4 percent nationwide. All population groups reported decreases in the volume of arson offenses. In addition, arson fell in all four of the nation’s regions: 11.6 percent in the West, 10.6 percent in the South, 9.2 percent in the Midwest, and 8.6 percent in the Northeast.

The complete 2009 Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report is available exclusively at www.fbi.gov/ucr/prelimsem2009/index.html.

Cal State San Marcos

“Cal State San Marcos will be the site of a major emergency training exercise from 9 am until 5 pm on Tues, May 18th.” from San Diego County Sheriff's Department : Nixle:

"Cal State San Marcos will be the site of a major emergency training exercise from 9 am until 5 pm on Tues, May 18th.
This exercise is part of a statewide Operation Golden Guardian drill.

The City of San Marcos, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Diego County Office of Emergency Services, Cal State San Marcos and numerous other public safety agencies will be involved in a statewide terrorism response training exercise called Operation Golden Guardian on Tuesday, May 18 from 9 am to 5 pm.

Residents and motorists may notice ambulances, emergency vehicles, law enforcement and fire personnel on and around the campus of Cal State San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Road. Motorists may experience some traffic control measures near the campus.

THIS IS ONLY A DRILL.

The purpose of this exercise is to give emergency responders an opportunity to train and rehearse in disaster and terrorism response. The Golden Guardian statewide exercise series was first implemented by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 and has become an annual
statewide exercise."

Copy Machine Security

Is your confidential info is stored on a copy machine?

A CBS News.com investigation. Copy Machine Security Video.

Guns in California

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives News Release
Los Angeles Field Division
May 11, 2010

www.atf.gov
Contact: Michael Hoffman,

Special Agent – PIO
Office: (818) 265-2507
Cell: (951) 538-4803
michael.hoffman@atf.gov

ATF Posts 2009 Los Angeles Crime Gun Data
Crime Gun Statistics Available On-Line
LOS ANGELES — John Torres, Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), announces the release of aggregate trace data for crime guns recovered in Los Angeles and submitted to ATF for tracing for calendar year 2009.

A review of the trace data compiled from January 1 to December 31, 2009 (from a data set run between March 29, 2010 and May 3, 2010) of several regions within Southern California revealed the following:

•32,964 crime guns were recovered by statewide California law enforcement agencies and submitted to ATF to be traced.
•16,162 firearms were traced by Los Angeles County law enforcement agencies with the majority traced by the LA County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department.
•Statewide, recovered handguns outnumbered long guns by nearly 2 to 1.
•50% of all firearms recovered in California were recovered in Los Angeles County, and 21% were from the City of Los Angeles.
•In Los Angeles, recovered handguns outnumbered long guns by more than 2 ½ to 1.
•1,238 crime guns were traced by Orange County law enforcement agencies in 2009.
•1,521 crime guns were traced by Los Angeles ATF Agents as part of ongoing investigations in 2009.
•There were over 3,000 crime guns recovered and traced in Southern California from youths 18-24 years of age.
A key component of ATF’s enforcement mission is the tracing of firearms on behalf of the thousands of nationwide federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies. Analyzing the comprehensive trace results gives ATF Los Angeles the ability to track illegal trafficking patterns and dismantle the organizations that put firearms into gang members and violent felons’ hands. ATF also gains insight regarding the types of criminal offenses committed in Southern California.

ATF views the most pertinent information gathered from a firearms trace as the individual purchaser and the time-to-crime (TTC) statistic. The TTC refers to the time period from the initial sale of the weapon by the federal firearms licensee to its recovery by law enforcement. Every gun with a TTC of less than two (2) years is looked at by ATF analysts, with an intense focus on those guns with a TTC of less than one (1) year. Time-to-crime less than one year may be a very strong indicator of illegal firearms trafficking.

“I attribute our successes as a federal agency to the positive interaction and collaboration with our state and local partners in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Tracing this amount of guns has given us a good baseline in determining the source of crime guns in Southern California. We are following up diligently on these leads,” said Torres. On January 1, 2002, the state of California enacted mandatory crime gun tracing through ATF.


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Guns Recovered by Police Agencies in California & Traced by ATF [a] State of California Los Angeles County City of Los Angeles Notes
Trace Totals 32,964 – 16,405 50% 6,882 21% (% based on % of total CA traces)
Handguns 21,312 65% 10,699 65% 4,947 72% (% based on % of State, County or City traces, i.e. 65% of guns recovered in LA County were handguns)
Long Guns [b] 11,580 35% 5,785 35% 1,925 28% (% based on % of State, County or City traces, i.e. 35% of guns recovered in LA County were long guns)

a.The Southern California Regional Crime Gun Center validated trace data for these entries prior to submission to the NTC. Date of study is 1/1/09-12/31/09
b.(Rifles, Shotguns, Destructive Devices, Machine Guns)

San Diego County Honors its Fallen Peace Officers.

San Diego County honors its fallen peace officers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKwhYMjszqY

Fallbrook/Bonsall residents hear demonstration of military might!

SAN DIEGO - The public got a lofty demonstration of military air might and aviation prowess today as a formation of 25 Marine helicopters flew from Camp Pendleton to San Diego and back.

The aircraft, AH-1Z Cobras and UH-1Y Hueys, crossed over the county in three chevron-shaped groups, roared south along Interstate 15 to the skies over Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, and looped back for the trip north to Pendleton.

The exercise was intended to develop and demonstrate "flight leadership skills," USMC spokesman Cpl. Derek Carlson said.

"We are giving Marine aviators experience in flying in large formations, and information about aircraft behavior in large formation flying," he added.

The copters left about 11 a.m. from a Camp Pendleton airfield near Fallbrook and flew to the Miramar area over Escondido, Rancho Bernardo and the northern reaches of San Diego. The formation returned to the North County USMC base on the same vector, landing shortly before 2 p.m., Carlson said.

North County Cosmetic - North County residents will get a demonstration of military might and training today, as a large formation of Marine helicopters is scheduled to fly from Camp Pendleton to San Diego and back.

"People will see three chevron-shaped groups of aircraft fly south from Pendleton, along Interstate 15, to Miramar and back," said Cpl. Derek Carlson at Marine Corps Airs Station Miramar.

"The formation of three waves of aircraft will demonstrate flight leadership skills," he said. "These are the new generation of aircraft, the AH-1Z Cobras. We are giving Marine aviators experience in flying in large formations, and information about aircraft behavior in large formation flying."

The choppers were scheduled to leave about 11 a.m. from an airfield near Fallbrook, at the post's eastern side, and fly above Interstate 15 past Escondido and Rancho Bernardo to Miramar. The formation will fly back to Miramar on the same vector and land about 1 p.m.

The Cobras will be accompanied by UH-1Y Hueys, Carlson said.

Valley News
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010.
Issue 18, Volume 14.

Geezer Bandit

FBI Seeks Public’s Assistance to Identify the “Geezer Bandit”

May 3, 2010 - The FBI, San Diego Police Department, and San Diego Sheriff’s Department are seeking the public’s assistance to identify the unknown male bank robber dubbed the “Geezer Bandit.” The Geezer Bandit is believed responsible for robbing eight banks in San Diego County. Three different rewards, totaling $16,000, are being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the Geezer Bandit.

Today, April 30, 2010, the suspect entered the U.S. Bank, located at 1301 E. Vista Way (inside Albertson’s), Vista, California, and produced a demand note for cash. He held a small revolver in his left hand as he robbed the teller.

Witnesses describe the robber as follows:

Sex: Male
Race: White
Age: 60-70 years old
Height: Approximately 6’0”
Weight: Approximately 190 pounds
Build: Average
Clothing: Baseball cap, blazer, button-down shirt, sunglasses.

The Geezer Bandit is believed to be responsible for robbing the following San Diego County banks:

August 28, 2009 US Bank 9643 Mission Gorge Rd., Santee
September 12, 2009 San Diego National Bank 7877 Ivanhoe, La Jolla
October 9, 2009 US Bank 4627 Carmel Mountain Rd., San Diego
October 26, 2009 Bank of America 17008 Avenida de Acacias, Rancho Santa Fe
November 16, 2009 Bank of America 7680 Girard Ave., La Jolla
January 27, 2010 San Diego National Bank 1075 Rosecrans, San Diego
April 20, 2010 California Bank & Trust 140 Escondido Ave., Vista
April 30, 2010 US Bank 1301 E. Vista Way, Vista

Anyone with information concerning this robbery is asked to contact the FBI at telephone number (858) 565-1255, San Diego Sheriff’s Department at (858) 565-5200, San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2299, or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.