Quality of Life in Sacramento Compromised as Crime Escalates Month after Month

The crime wave across California has come to the front doors of millions in once-safe cities. As the Globe just reported, last Friday in the once sleepy cow town of Sacramento, California, there were multiple shootings, multiple stabbings, two machete attacks and a bank robbery. That is not all of it either. But it was enough to get our attention.

The day after that article published, I was awakened at 2:25am by gunshots and then a short burst of automatic gunfire somewhere in my neighborhood.

The Sacramento Police Department keeps daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly crime statistics, so we thought a look at those stats city wide may reveal more.

A SacPD Captain says, “The number of shootings and guns seized in Police District 4 has gone up significantly compared to last year. On the positive side, shootings have gone down in Police District 5, but firearm seizures have increased.  The report doesn’t include our homicide numbers, and tragically we have seen a significant increase in homicides this year.  Unfortunately our response times have increased in both districts, and I attribute that to a variety of things to include staffing challenges, and the increase in homicides and shootings city wide.”

For incidents that occurred throughout the city of Sacramento in just the week of October 7th through October 13th there were:

2 Homicides

7 Shooting investigations

6 Gun arrests

4 Death investigations

2 Incidents of resisting arrest or assault on a peace officer

Sacramento Overall: week of October 7th through October 13th:

Shooting Reports:  35% Increase

Number of Victims Shot:  28.8% Increase

City Council (Police) District 4 (where I live):

In just the last two days (October 31 – Nov. 1), Sacramento Police Department reports from the Daily Activity Log:

• Fatal hit and run, downtown Sacramento, J Street & 29th Street: Officers responded to a report of a collision involving a vehicle and a pedestrian. The pedestrian sustained serious injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The involved vehicle fled the scene. “Bystanders say transient female was crawling across the street asking for help when she was struck in the roadway,” the Public Safety News Network reported. “Bystanders stated that some ladies yelled at the occupants of the truck to stop, that they just ran her over, but they took off eastbound on J Street.”
• Officers responded to a report of an assault, 19th and J Streets: The suspect vandalized a business and threw a rock at the victim. The victim sustained minor injuries. Officers checked the area but were not able to locate the suspect.
• Officers responded to a report of a brandishing of a firearm at 16th and L Streets: The suspect brandished a firearm to the victim, who was then able to disarm the suspect. The suspect fled but was located in the area by responding officers. The suspect was arrested for weapons violations.
• Officers responded to a report of a deadly collision involving two vehicles at 7th and L Streets: One subject was pronounced deceased at the scene. Five subjects were transported to local hospitals for treatment. Of the five, one subject was pronounced deceased at a hospital. The Public Safety News Network reported “SacPD confirms 4 transported and 1 DOA in a horrific wreck on L Street in front of AAA.”
• 3700 Block of W Pacific Ave, Officers responded to a report of a burglary: The suspects forced entry to a closed business, burglarized the business, and then fled the area.
• Stabbing: Officers responded to a local hospital to contact the victim of an assault. The victim was receiving treatment for non-life-threatening stab wounds.
• Shooting: Officers responded to a report of a shooting. One victim was located at the scene with non-life-threatening gunshot injuries. The victim was transported to a hospital for treatment.
• Officers responded to a report of suspicious circumstances 3800 McKinley: subject was possibly trying to access residential backyards. An officer located the described subject who was found to have two felony arrest warrants and was arrested.
• And a Burglary
• And a robbery – suspect was armed.

Not to beat a dead horse, but this increase in violent crime is no accident. The FBI graph below shows how crime in California had dropped, then began to rise again after 2014 – the year Proposition 47 was passed, and then Proposition 57 in 2016. Proposition 47 largely decriminalized theft and drug crimes by reducing those crimes and a number of other “non-violent” felonies to misdemeanors; Prop. 57 allows early release for “non-violent offenders,” including rape by intoxication of an unconscious person, human trafficking involving a sex act with minors, arson causing great bodily harm, drive-by shooting, assault with a deadly weapon, and hostage taking.

Sacramento, which ranks #87 out of 100 most dangerous cities in the U.S., the total crime rate is 3,809.2 per 100,000 people. That’s 53.80% higher than the national rate of 2,476.7 per 100,000 people and 37.40% higher than the California total crime rate of 2,772.4 per 100,000 people, according to the most recent data from the FBI.

The Globe reported in April that the staggering number of victims shot in Sacramento had increased by 333.33%.

Readers: If you’ve noticed a significant increase in crime in your California city/neighborhood, let us know. We will investigate, examine the crime statistics, and report on it.