Violent Crime Decreases in Culver City, FBI Stats Reveal

According to statistics released this week by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, violent crime in Culver City dropped by almost 20 percent in 2010 as compared with 2009, while property crimes saw a jump of just more than 17 percent in the same time period.

In 2010, the reported that there were 149 violent crimes committed in the city, compared with 186 in 2009. Violent crimes include murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Property crimes, which include auto theft, larceny/theft and burglaries, went up 17.2 percent in 2010, to 1,638 offenses from 1,398 in 2009.

The decrease in violent crime seems to be part of an overall decrease in crime since 1985, the earliest figures available for comparison on the FBI Uniform Crime Reports website. The 149 violent crimes in 2010 represent a 60 percent decrease from the 374 violent crimes in Culver City in 1985.

Property crimes in Culver City, however, seem to be on the rise again, beginning with a spike in 2007, with 1,459 property crimes. Property crimes decreased to 1,378 in 2008, but increased in 2009 and 2010. Burglaries and thefts (which include pickpocketing, shoplifiting and the taking of property without the use or threat of force) seem to account for most of the increases.

The upward trend of property crimes also seems to go against the statewide trend of such crimes decreasing. Statewide, more than 980,000 property crimes were reported to the FBI in 2010, down from just more than 1 million in 2009, a decrease of 2.7 percent and a decrease of more than 35 percent from 1985's 1.5 million property crimes.

Violent crime in the state also seems to be on a downward trend. There were approximately 164,000 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2010, down from approximately 174,000 in 2009—a decrease of almost 6 percent, with violent crimes down by 18.6 percent from almost 202,000 in 1985.

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