2021 Saw Fewest Reported Crimes in Pasadena in 10 Years

Pasadena police said they responded to the fewest reports of crimes in a decade in 2021.

The Department’s statistics show that officers recorded 3,779 crimes in Pasadena last year, which was down just 2.7% from 2020 but 13.3% fewer than the decade’s most crime-ridden year, 2013.

“The efforts of not only the members of the Pasadena Police Department, various non-profit and community organizations have significantly contributed to the decrease in crime over the years,” said Interim Police Chief Cheryl Moody.

“We continue to have regular acts of violence, especially involving the use of firearms, so more can be done….but it is encouraging that crime levels in this great city are well below where they were during previous decades.”

Homicides dipped to 6 from the 7 in the year before. The 10-year high was 9 murders in 2014.

Drops in crime were reported across most categories of crime, but not all. Commercial burglaries shot up 21% and domestic violence increased 9% over 2020, the statistics reveal.

Police seized a record 345 illegal guns in 2021, jumping 20% over the previous highest-ever count of 288 in 2020.

Police statistics recorded 114,454 calls for service from Pasadena residents of which 62,330 came through 9-1-1.

“The City is on track to implement the use of technology such as ShotSpotter and Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs),” Moody said. “We must use new technology to deter future violent incidents and provide additional resources for solving crimes.”

Unlike Pasadena, nearby Los Angeles experienced an 11.8% increase in homicides in 2021, while violent crime increased 3.9% and property crimes rose by 4.2%.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti pointed out in a recent statement that L.A. is not the only city experiencing an increase in violent crime, a phenomenon which has occurred in a number of major cities across the U.S. since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similarly, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Thursday that homicides spiked from 2019 to 2021 in areas policed by his Department.

Department data for the year ending Dec. 31, 2021 showed “a two-year jump — this is comparing 2019 to 2021 — that was a 94.24% increase in homicides, huge number,” Villanueva said. “That’s the bad news.”