Violent crime rates dropped again last year. Here are the Sacramento-area numbers

The violent crime rate in the four-county Sacramento region fell to its lowest level in at least 35 years during 2019, according to new statistics from the California Department of Justice.

Law enforcement agencies in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties reported 8,322 violent crimes in 2019, for a rate of 354 crimes per 100,000 residents. That’s down 6 percent from 2018 and 17 percent from 2014.

The violent crime rate in the region is down more than 50 percent from its peak in the mid-1990s.

Agencies reported 96 homicides last year, up from 86 the previous year. The region has fluctuated between 80 and 100 homicides during all but one of the last 11 years.

Rapes in the region dropped from 682 in 2018 to 647 in 2019, a 5 percent decline. The rate of rapes in the region dropped relatively steadily for more than two decades until 2013, when the FBI adjusted its definition of rape, then it began to trend upward.

Both robberies and aggravated assaults have plummeted in the Sacramento region in recent years. The robbery rate is down more than 65 percent from the rate seen in the mid-80s. The aggravated assault rate is down more than 50 percent since the mid-1990s.

Property crime in the region rose slightly last year. There were 51,565 reported property crimes in 2019, up 2 percent from the prior year.

Even so, the property crime rate in 2019 was the second-lowest in at least 35 years, trailing only the prior year.

The number of violent crimes fell in 16 of the region’s 20 largest law enforcement jurisdictions from 2018 to 2019. Declines were steepest at South Lake Tahoe, Auburn, Placerville, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department and Galt.

Over the last five years, several jurisdictions have seen drops of roughly 20 percent or more in reported violent crime, including the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, Elk Grove, Citrus Heights and Woodland.

The data covers a period before COVID-19. Statewide crime data on the first half of 2020 will not be available until later this year. Some preliminary data suggest crime will decrease further, as more people stay at home.