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SF’s 2021 Crime Stats Just Got Released

Sadly, homicides and gun violence saw significant increases
By - posted 1/28/2022 No Comment

San Francisco police on Wednesday released crime data from 2021, showing that murders across the city are up compared to previous years. According to the numbers, the city had 56 homicides in 2021, up from 48 in 2020, and 41 in 2019.

“Sadly, this is not just a San Francisco trend, this is a national trend and this is something that is truly concerning for all of us,” Police Chief Bill Scott said. “Fifty-six is homicides for San Francisco is a big deal and it’s something we’re committed to turning around.”

Of those homicides, police solved 77 percent, according to Scott. “That rate is far above the state average and the national average, so that’s something we’re really pleased with. It’s not to say we can’t do better. We want to solve every case, but sadly, for the families and the victims, we don’t solve every case. But we definitely will work as hard as we can to do just that,” he said.

The data also revealed that citywide gun violence is on the rise, with 222 victims of gun violence in 2021, which includes murder victims killed in shootings. That number is up from 167 victims of gun violence in 2020, and 137 in 2019.

“We don’t really know the role that the global pandemic plays in this,” Scott said of the increase. “There’s a lot of theories out there, there’s a lot of anecdotes that crime is high because of reasons connected to COVID and that may be true, but we really don’t have the evidence to point that out. What we do know is that this type of crime is going up and we need to turn it around.”

According to the data, rape cases decreased, with 204 reported in 2021, compared to 224 in 2020, and 396 in 2019. Robberies also decreased with 2,242 reported in 2021, compared to 2,404 in 2020, and 3,099 in 2019.

Aggravated assaults slightly increased citywide from 2,183 in 2020 to 2,381 in 2021. Both numbers, however, are down compared to 2,547 aggravated assaults reported in 2019.
Burglaries decreased slightly in 2021 with 7,217, compared to 7,575 in 2020. Meanwhile, thefts increased to 31,139 in 2021, compared to 25,692 in 2020.

Car breaks-in San Francisco also increased in 2021 to 20,663, compared to 14,859 in 2020. Auto thefts, however, saw a slight decrease in 2021 with 6,030, compared to 6,082 the previous year. Although, both numbers are a jump from 2019, when the city had considerably less auto thefts with 4,442.

“There are ups and there are downs. There are areas where we’ve had some good progress, and there are areas like homicides where we have to turn it around,” Scott said. “As we move through 2022, we’re going to do everything we can from a public safety and policing perspective to give the residents of our city the safest city they can have.”

Mayor London Breed, who earlier this month unveiled the Tenderloin Emergency Intervention plan to address public drug use, said she’s hoping the plan will have a significant impact in reducing overall crime.

“Statistics really don’t matter when you’re a victim,” Breed said. “At the end of the day, regardless of a statistic, when it happens to you and you used to feel comfortable safe walking around San Francisco and all of sudden, you’re randomly attacked and you’re traumatized and you can’t even walk you kids to school, that’s a problem. So, from my perspective, this city has to do more.”

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