Poway remains safest city in county

Poway remained the safest city in San Diego County in 2015 despite an uptick in property crimes.

According to FBI crime statistics for 2015, Poway saw a 9 percent increase in crime in 2015, but still remains the safest city in the San Diego region with a crime rate of 11.34 crimes per 1,000 population, a 23 percent reduction in crime since 2011. The FBI Index showed that Poway had a population of 49,041 in 2015, less than a 1 percent increase from 2014.

Three unincorporated areas of San Diego showed lower crime rates than Poway, 4S Ranch (6.28 per 1,000), Ramona (7.56 per 1,000) and Spring Valley (10.93 per 1,000). 4S Ranch, however, saw a 17 percent increase in crime over the past year, mostly property crimes.

Poway saw a reduction of 37 percent in violent crimes in 2015, dropping to a rate of .90 per 1,000 population. Violent crimes include homicide, rape, aggravated assault and robbery. Violent crimes in Poway have dropped a total of 54 percent since 2011.

Poway did, however, see an increase of 17 percent in property crimes, up to 10.44 crimes per 1,000 population. These include larceny, burglary and motor vehicle theft. This is still 18 percent fewer crimes than in 2011, which saw 12.79 property crimes per 1,000.

The FBI Index showed a total of 556 crimes were reported in Poway in 2015, 50 more than last year, but 22 percent less than in 2011. Of those 556 crimes, 44 were violent crimes. The other 512 crimes were property crimes.

Poway also had 152 reported domestic violence incidents, a 6 percent increase from last year, which had 144. Domestic violence incidents are up 20 percent since 2011.

There was one reported homicide in Poway in 2015. Poway had six reported incidents of rape, 13 robberies and 24 aggravated assaults.

For property crimes, Poway had 66 residential burglaries, 49 non-residential burglaries, 142 cases of larceny over $400, 225 cases of larceny $400 and under, 30 motor vehicle thefts and two cases of arson.

Violent crime clearance rates for Poway were not reported for 2015. Poway had a property crime clearance rate of 19 percent, down 2 percent from 2014. A clearance rate is calculated by dividing the number of crimes that have a charge being made against a suspect by the total number of crimes.

Property stolen in Poway in 2015 had a dollar value of $1.2 million, with about $228,000 of that property being recovered, 30 percent less than in 2014 and 45 percent less dollar value recovered since 2011. Poway’s property recovery rate was 19 percent in 2015, down 12 percent from 2014.