Danville: Crime rates continue to drop in first half of 2019

Showcasing why Danville has been recognized among the safest communities in California, Police Chief Allan Shields gave a rundown on police in 2019 and how his officers are working to keep the town safe during the Danville Town Council’s regular meeting last week.

In his report highlighting the crime statistics from the first half of 2019 and comparing that information to previous years, Shields described how his department is making Danville a safer place to live, while also touching on areas where they are looking to do better.

“Last year when I gave the annual report, I basically said that Danville had reached the point of being as safe as it has ever been, crime was the lowest it has ever been and our traffic collision rate was the lowest it has ever been,” Shields told the council on Sept. 17. “So on those fronts, I have good news and maybe some not so good news, but it’s not too far out of what’s reasonable.

First the good news: Shields highlighted that in the first half of 2019, there were a total of 150 reported Part 1 crimes — Part 1 crimes include homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft and stolen vehicles — which is nearly a 20% reduction of crime compared to the first half of 2018.

According to Shields report, theft is the largest contributor to Part 1 crime in Danville, with 117 cases reported from January through June. Burglary is the second highest with 15 reported cases, followed by eight cases of car theft, seven assault, two robbery and one case of homicide.

Prior to February’s homicide Danville hadn’t seen a non-vehicular homicide since February 2016, and the last murder seen before that occurred in 2009 — other than murder-suicide incidents.

Case closure rate is one area where Danville police have performed exceptionally well according to Shields. In all but one category (general theft), police investigators in Danville have a case closure rate well above the national average.

In the first half of 2019, Danville police have 100% closure rates for homicides and burglaries, 69% for stolen vehicles, 68% for burglaries, 67% for assault and 15% for theft — in 2017 nationally the case closure rate for thefts stood at 19%.

As for the not so good news: One area where Shields says Danville has seen an uptick in cases is in traffic collisions, which for the first have of 2019 have increased by 10% from 140 to 154 incidents reported. Shields added that a significant number of these cases are committed by Danville’s teenage residents and that a targeted education campaign could help certain these numbers.

“Some of the analysis when we looked at the age groups for who was causing them, it really isn’t a surprise but it was our 16, 17, 18 year olds were three to four times more likely to be the cause of the collision,” he said. “If we can work on an education front and help them understand it, provide them with some additional information as far as what the rules and their responsibilities are when they’re driving, maybe we can have an impact on that front as well.”

While traffic collisions have slightly risen over the previous year, the town’s 20 year average for such occurrences has dropped significantly. Shields explained that in the late ’90s Danville saw traffic collisions occur at rates in the 500s. These figures didn’t improve much in the early 2000s with cases occurring in the 400s.

In recognition of Danville’s consistently low rates of violent crimes that occur, back in March national security company Safewise recognized the town as the safest “city” in California. Recognizing the town for its fostering of a culture that highly values public safety.

During last week’s meeting, Shields was quick to praise the Town Council for their efforts to support police and keep Danville safe, stating their leadership helped establish the town’s culture of public safety support.

“The decisions that you have to make up here are important and they certainly lead to a culture of public safety. It really doesn’t matter to which department you are making a decision, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a police department issue… Everything in my eyes has a law enforcement component and you make very challenging decisions and I appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into it,” he said.

Council members the turned and praised Shields and his fellow officers for their work, with Vice Mayor Karen Stepper saying: “You have created an environment that makes it possible for people to know that (crimes) are going to get solved… We get the credit but you do all the work. You succeed at the highest level so congratulations for that.”

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