Poway property crimes up 17 percent in 2015

Thefts and burglaries were up in 2015 in Poway, according to data compiled by a regional agency.

According to ARJIS (the Automated Regional Justice Information System), property crimes were up 17 percent in 2015, at 512 crimes, compared to 436 in 2014.

Due to a FBI mandated change in the definition of rape for the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, there can be no comparison of crime statistics for 2015 to previous years in the categories of rape, aggravated assaults, total violent crime and crime index total (violent and property crimes combined), since all four of these categories have been impacted.

According to the ARJIS website, “The new definition of rape has been broadened to include male victims, sodomy, penetration with any body part or objects, and no longer requires force.” The new definition — posted under the “help” tab at crimestats.arjis.org — went into effect on Jan. 1, 2015.

Poway did see one murder in 2015, with no reported murders in 2014.

Armed robberies saw a 12 percent decrease in 2015, at seven crimes in 2015 compared to eight in 2014, but strong arm robberies were up 20 percent, with six reported crimes in 2015 and five in 2014.

Property crimes, which include residential and non-residential burglary, theft greater than or equal to than $400, theft less than $400 and motor vehicle theft, saw a near-universal rise, with the exception of motor vehicle theft, which had 30 reported crimes in 2015 compared to 2014, which had 32, and non-residential burglaries, which saw a nearly 9 percent decrease from 53 crimes in 2014 to 49 in 2015.

Residential burglaries saw a 46 percent increase, at 66 crimes in 2015 compared to 45 in 2014. Despite the drop in non-residential burglaries, total burglaries saw a rise of about 17 percent in 2015 with 115 crimes, compared to 98 in 2014.

Thefts greater than or equal to $400 were up nearly 41 percent in 2015, with 142 reported crimes compared to 101 in 2014, and thefts less than $400 were up almost 10 percent in 2015, with 225 reported crimes compared to 205 in 2014.

Total thefts overall were up nearly 20 percent, at 367 reported crimes, compared to 306 in 2014.