Our local sheriff’s station recently published the final crime data for December 2017, allowing a window into public safety here in Malibu.
Overall, the city of Malibu appears to be a fairly safe place to live and visit. In fact, the internationally known coastal city doesn’t even register on many crime-tracking websites because the population of Malibu—at only 13,000—is too small to accurately compare to other cities with higher crime rates in urban areas. Still, our city, visited by millions each year, does experience crime—often crimes of opportunity such as car break-ins that often occur near remote county line beaches such as El Matador, El Pescador and La Piedra.
A recent rash of vehicle burglaries closer to the Civic Center last month notwithstanding, statistics were recently released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that detail crimes committed in the city of Malibu during the year 2017.
Overall, there does not appear to be an uptick in crimes reported last year over previous years. In fact, according to the sheriff’s report, there was a 5.1 percent decrease over 2016’s figures—or 22 fewer individual crimes committed in the city. However, relying on percentages to tell the whole story can be misleading. If a town reports one homicide in a year and the next year reports two homicides, then the homicide rate has doubled. In a city the size of Malibu, that may not represent the whole story.
For instance, did you know there was a recorded homicide in Malibu in 2017?
Using data provided to The Malibu Times from 2013 to 2016, there were no homicides reported in Malibu. Homicide is defined as “the deliberate and unlawful killing of one person by another.” In 2017, one homicide was reported. On Nov. 29, a four-car crash on Pacific Coast Highway resulted in the death of Juan Antonio Castillo. The 28-year-old was struck and killed by a car theft suspect who was allegedly trying to speed away from police just moments before his car careened into Castillo, who worked as a gardener.
Incidents of rape were up in 2017 with seven reported—up from four in 2016. As in the case of many sexual assaults, sheriff’s spokespeople said the rapes were reportedly not perpetrated by random strangers, but by known assailants to the victims. Robberies were slightly down and other assaults slightly up last year.
One of the hottest news stories for Malibu in 2017 was the suspension of local dinners for the homeless—purportedly due to an increase in local crime. That suspension went into effect at the end of November of last year.
However, petty theft, often blamed on homeless individuals, actually dropped by 16 fewer incidents over the course of the year.
Overall crime for the month of November 2017, when the suspension of local homeless dinners was in the forefront of news, dropped in Malibu by 1.8 percent over November 2016. However, assaults were up by three incidents, one rape and there were 12 more vehicle break-ins. Other crimes were fewer enough though to lower the overall percentage rate.
Susan Dueñas, the City of Malibu’s public safety manager, called the crime rate numbers for the past two years a normal fluctuation. Dueñas credited the sheriff’s department with holding the numbers down, saying, “deputies are obviously doing their job.” Explaining that crime statistics often have a “normal up and down swing,” Dueñas called Malibu’s statistics “overall good and holding steady,” saying it can take an entire decade to spot a trend. Dueñas also noted that, although it often goes unreported, petty theft is down in Malibu.