Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Most crimes in San Diego down since March

Less trash, less graffiti

Marcos and Claudia. “We had to stop patrolling the neighborhood since covid hit.”
Marcos and Claudia. “We had to stop patrolling the neighborhood since covid hit.”

By the end of August, certain crime rates dropped while others peaked in parts of the county compared to March.

“I figured burglaries would be the crime that would be most affected because everybody’s home,” said Jonathan S. a collectibles mail order sales rep from south San Diego. “Unless the burglars are high on drugs, it’d be nuts to break into a home in these times.”

Matt Armstrong: "Now I can go through with just a bucket and tongs and get all the trash.”

I logged onto www.CrimeMapping.com and looked up Jonathan’s neighborhood, which is west of the 805 and down the street from Palm Avenue. The furthest date I could backtrack to was on March 12, so I checked the crimes in a 31-day span which went to April 11; there were two burglaries in his neighborhood. For the 31 day month of August, there were none.

Larceny went up from two to six in Jonathan’s neighborhood during the same analyzed periods.

“That’s because everybody’s ordering more online — through Amazon, eBay, and Etsy — because all of our brick-and-mortar stores were shut down or the poor owners had to close shop,” Jonathan continued. “That ‘six’ is a low number. On Nextdoor alone, I saw [reports of] six packages stolen in one day off of my street alone. Many people don’t make reports to the police, they just file a claim on the website they ordered from.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to an August article published by Forbes,: “While overall retail sales are down right now (there’s been a 21.6 percent decline from April 2019 to April 2020), online sales are bucking the trend. The National Retail Federation reports a 21.2 percent rise in online and other non-store sales over the same time period.

For Jonathan, he said he’s shipping more of his 1970s collectibles outside of our county — including bronze age comic books, records, Atari video games, and board games — at their post office across the 805 freeway. “I’ve spoken to other online sellers that drop off packages there, and we all noticed a surge in sales of tangible media. People on lockdown are tired of swiping and streaming, they want to share legit experiences with their family.”

Another crime Jonathan sees less of is “spray paint tagging” on the walls in his area. “And that’s probably because kids are not in school.”

C.M. lives about seven miles west of Jonathan in Imperial Beach. “Interesting, usually the mail [thieves] around here are the high schools …. bused in. No theft lately, I mean in months actually, lol. COVID helped that shit stop over here.”

I reached out to CM via direct message and as this article goes to print, she hasn’t replied. According to CrimeMapping.com stats of the beachfront city spanning from its fishing pier to 12th Street, crimes all across the board increased from 39 in March/April (31 days) to 50 in the month of August.

On September 7, I communicated with Claudia and Marcos from North Park. Last year, I joined their neighborhood watch excursion, and we strolled and drove through the streets and alleys, less than a mile west of the North Park sign.

“We had to stop patrolling the neighborhood since COVID hit,” Claudia said, “but we are still very much aware of our surrounding area. So if we see something out of the ordinary or if our neighbors have any issues, we will address it. Neighbors will call us before calling the cops. Police will not respond to calls that have to do with theft or car break-ins. If cops happen to be patrolling and witness a crime, then they will take action, but only then.”

Within the area of North Park that the couple patrolled, which is south of University Avenue and northeast of Morley Field, most of the crime rates increased as reported covid-19 cases skyrocketed from 35 on March 15 to 38,604 on the last day of August.

“Small businesses that are still shut down are targeted by crime and the homeless are very aware that whatever crime they commit, it won’t be investigated, much less pursued,” Claudia continued. “A lot of petty crimes from the homeless are happening more around the North Park Rec Center as well."

Vehicle break-ins and theft in Claudia’s neighborhood dropped from 13 (in the 31 days monitored in March/April) to five in the month of August.

Local auto racers, as Michael from Cherokee Point, a neighborhood that borders North Park’s east side, noticed less car thievery going on. “Selling chocolates [stolen American vehicles in Baja] is harder, because of the new registration laws there, and with the random COVID-19, military and police checkpoints in Baja, stolen vehicles are harder to pass through.”

In a CrimeMapping.com search of Cherokee Point comparing the two aforementioned time periods, vehicle break-ins and theft dropped from 23 to 19; burglaries from nine to four; and weapons charges, five to zero.

About two miles south of Cherokee Point is the Azalea Park neighborhood; martial arts instructor Matt Armstrong monitors the canyons and streets here.

“I still go into Hollywood Canyon, Pepper Canyon, and Manzanita Canyon regularly picking up trash and making sure no one is living in there and starting fires and such. I go two to three times a week and the canyons are looking a lot cleaner. I used to go in with contractor trash bags and haul the trash out, now I can go through with just a bucket and tongs and get it all.”

CrimeMapping.com states vehicle break-ins and theft dropped from seven to one; burglaries from three to two; motor vehicle theft six to three; and arson, which Armstrong is the most worried about due to our weather and dry vegetation within the canyons, was a zero in August.

“Not only is the trash [including illegal dumping] down, but the graffiti is also very low. With an occasional outburst after some weekend protests, ‘F the pigs’ was all over our bridge after the first protest, we just painted it out right away. I am worried after the pandemic and rent moratorium is over, there will be a flux of peeps trying to live in the canyons, but not on my watch.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Our lowest temps are typically in January, Tree aloes blooming for the birds

Big surf changes our shorelines
Marcos and Claudia. “We had to stop patrolling the neighborhood since covid hit.”
Marcos and Claudia. “We had to stop patrolling the neighborhood since covid hit.”

By the end of August, certain crime rates dropped while others peaked in parts of the county compared to March.

“I figured burglaries would be the crime that would be most affected because everybody’s home,” said Jonathan S. a collectibles mail order sales rep from south San Diego. “Unless the burglars are high on drugs, it’d be nuts to break into a home in these times.”

Matt Armstrong: "Now I can go through with just a bucket and tongs and get all the trash.”

I logged onto www.CrimeMapping.com and looked up Jonathan’s neighborhood, which is west of the 805 and down the street from Palm Avenue. The furthest date I could backtrack to was on March 12, so I checked the crimes in a 31-day span which went to April 11; there were two burglaries in his neighborhood. For the 31 day month of August, there were none.

Larceny went up from two to six in Jonathan’s neighborhood during the same analyzed periods.

“That’s because everybody’s ordering more online — through Amazon, eBay, and Etsy — because all of our brick-and-mortar stores were shut down or the poor owners had to close shop,” Jonathan continued. “That ‘six’ is a low number. On Nextdoor alone, I saw [reports of] six packages stolen in one day off of my street alone. Many people don’t make reports to the police, they just file a claim on the website they ordered from.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to an August article published by Forbes,: “While overall retail sales are down right now (there’s been a 21.6 percent decline from April 2019 to April 2020), online sales are bucking the trend. The National Retail Federation reports a 21.2 percent rise in online and other non-store sales over the same time period.

For Jonathan, he said he’s shipping more of his 1970s collectibles outside of our county — including bronze age comic books, records, Atari video games, and board games — at their post office across the 805 freeway. “I’ve spoken to other online sellers that drop off packages there, and we all noticed a surge in sales of tangible media. People on lockdown are tired of swiping and streaming, they want to share legit experiences with their family.”

Another crime Jonathan sees less of is “spray paint tagging” on the walls in his area. “And that’s probably because kids are not in school.”

C.M. lives about seven miles west of Jonathan in Imperial Beach. “Interesting, usually the mail [thieves] around here are the high schools …. bused in. No theft lately, I mean in months actually, lol. COVID helped that shit stop over here.”

I reached out to CM via direct message and as this article goes to print, she hasn’t replied. According to CrimeMapping.com stats of the beachfront city spanning from its fishing pier to 12th Street, crimes all across the board increased from 39 in March/April (31 days) to 50 in the month of August.

On September 7, I communicated with Claudia and Marcos from North Park. Last year, I joined their neighborhood watch excursion, and we strolled and drove through the streets and alleys, less than a mile west of the North Park sign.

“We had to stop patrolling the neighborhood since COVID hit,” Claudia said, “but we are still very much aware of our surrounding area. So if we see something out of the ordinary or if our neighbors have any issues, we will address it. Neighbors will call us before calling the cops. Police will not respond to calls that have to do with theft or car break-ins. If cops happen to be patrolling and witness a crime, then they will take action, but only then.”

Within the area of North Park that the couple patrolled, which is south of University Avenue and northeast of Morley Field, most of the crime rates increased as reported covid-19 cases skyrocketed from 35 on March 15 to 38,604 on the last day of August.

“Small businesses that are still shut down are targeted by crime and the homeless are very aware that whatever crime they commit, it won’t be investigated, much less pursued,” Claudia continued. “A lot of petty crimes from the homeless are happening more around the North Park Rec Center as well."

Vehicle break-ins and theft in Claudia’s neighborhood dropped from 13 (in the 31 days monitored in March/April) to five in the month of August.

Local auto racers, as Michael from Cherokee Point, a neighborhood that borders North Park’s east side, noticed less car thievery going on. “Selling chocolates [stolen American vehicles in Baja] is harder, because of the new registration laws there, and with the random COVID-19, military and police checkpoints in Baja, stolen vehicles are harder to pass through.”

In a CrimeMapping.com search of Cherokee Point comparing the two aforementioned time periods, vehicle break-ins and theft dropped from 23 to 19; burglaries from nine to four; and weapons charges, five to zero.

About two miles south of Cherokee Point is the Azalea Park neighborhood; martial arts instructor Matt Armstrong monitors the canyons and streets here.

“I still go into Hollywood Canyon, Pepper Canyon, and Manzanita Canyon regularly picking up trash and making sure no one is living in there and starting fires and such. I go two to three times a week and the canyons are looking a lot cleaner. I used to go in with contractor trash bags and haul the trash out, now I can go through with just a bucket and tongs and get it all.”

CrimeMapping.com states vehicle break-ins and theft dropped from seven to one; burglaries from three to two; motor vehicle theft six to three; and arson, which Armstrong is the most worried about due to our weather and dry vegetation within the canyons, was a zero in August.

“Not only is the trash [including illegal dumping] down, but the graffiti is also very low. With an occasional outburst after some weekend protests, ‘F the pigs’ was all over our bridge after the first protest, we just painted it out right away. I am worried after the pandemic and rent moratorium is over, there will be a flux of peeps trying to live in the canyons, but not on my watch.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024 classical music in San Diego

In November, The San Diego Symphony presented the most brilliantly understated concert I’ve been to.
Next Article

Ray Kroc and Hunter S. Thompson had nothing on Trump

Reader’s Walter Mencken carries the story from 2016 forward
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader