Crime is down in San Marino for all but one category, according to statistics released by the police department this week comparing this time-frame with the same time-frame last year.
“We are very pleased, but we still have much work to do and we are doing it,” San Marino Police Chief John Incontro said during a telephone interview this week. “Overall, Part 1 crimes are down.” Incontro passed on the same information during the meeting of the recently formed public safety commission last Monday, which replaced the traffic safety commission. The Public Safety Commission meets once every month. In fact, the new public safety commission has been called the traffic commission “on steroids.” The next meeting is June 18.
Part 1 crimes included homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary (residential and commercial) attempts, auto theft and arson. Arson and rape are the only category that didn’t go down. In fact, arson went up by three – one being the suicide by self-immolation by a man in a small truck outside a San Marino home in broad daylight – the other two arsons also were solved.
The other good news is the decline in burglaries for the first quarter this year as compared with the first quarter of 2017. Last year, there were 48 residential burglaries, four over one weekend. This set off some alarm bells in the police department, so they created a burglary suppression detail to combat the situation. (See story Pg. 1). The detail was going to have four officers dressed in plain clothes driving unmarked police cars. They were going to keep certain areas under surveillance. They did just that, and it worked, according to police.
This year to date, there have been 26 residential burglaries and 48 last year—a drop of nearly 50 percent—48.83 percent to be exact, according to the data provided by the police department.
“One is too many, but it’s working,” Incontro said Tuesday morning during a telephone interview. “I want to thank the community for calling us. Our calls have increased dramatically and that is helpful.”
There were no homicides this year or last, one rape this year but none last year, no robberies this year but two last year, seven aggravated assaults this year and 10 last year.
Meanwhile, commercial burglaries came in at four this year, while they had seven last year. Commercial burglary attempts came in at eight this year compared with 14 last year. Larceny was also down, with 43 this year and 56 last year. No cars been stolen this year, while only two got boosted last year. And then there’s arson, which had three this year but none last year. Police also are reporting two cases of unlawful consensual sex, but involved a minor, according to Incontro. One of the cases is with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office for final disposition.
Overall, crime in San Marino is down 32.35 percent. Incontro said the causes for the decrease are varied. The community, he said, has become much more involved.
“Our calls for service are way up and I want to thank the community for getting involved,” Incontro said. “We cannot do our job without the community’s involvement. Also, our burglary suppression detail is working really well. Since we started it, we’ve seen a decrease.”
Incontro also attributed the decline to the community working with the police department.
“As I said, we cannot do our job without the community’s involvement and San Marino is the best,” Incontro said. “They are committed to making our city the best and the safest it can be. I want to thank them for that.”
