Report says San Joaquin County has California's highest violent crime rate, Stockton mayor candidates respond
STOCKTON -- California's safest and most dangerous counties are in and around the region, according to a new crime report put out by a Los Angeles law firm.
Simmrin Law Group says it analyzed state-reported data sourced from the California Department of Justice over a ten-year period from 2013 to 2022.
They found the counties with the highest rate of violent crimes per 1,000 residents during that period were:
- San Joaquin County
- San Francisco County
- Plumas County
- Alameda County
- Kern County
The law group reports that San Joaquin County recorded the highest rate of violent crimes at an average of 72 violent crimes per 1,000 residents - nearly double the statewide average of 44 incidents per 1,000 people.
They report that state crime data over the ten years reveals a total of 56,177 violent crimes in San Joaquin County. That includes 617 homicides, 2,379 rapes, 14,592 robberies, and 38,589 aggravated assaults by their measure.
CBS13 asked the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office to review this analysis for accuracy, which they are still working on.
It comes as Stockton, the county seat and center of much of its violent crime, is seeing a lot of leadership turnover.
Several hotly contested city council seats are up for grabs and there is a race for Stockton mayor to replace current mayor, Kevin Lincoln, who is running for Congress.
Safety is top of mind in each race.
"We want them to feel safe in their community," said current San Joaquin county supervisor and mayoral candidate Tom Patti.
Patti is the frontrunner in the Stockton mayor's race with 8,498 votes as of updated Friday night totals.
Educator and former Stockton city council member Christina Fugazi is in second place with 5,626 votes Friday. The race appears to be headed for a runoff between the two candidates in the November general election.
"While I'm not familiar with this study and its breakdown for Stockton specifically, combating crime and restoring public safety is my top priority," Fugazi told CBS13 in a statement.
Patti said the report, that compiled data only available in full through 2022, doesn't tell the whole story.
"In just the last year alone, we've dropped overall crime in San Joaquin County 32%," Patti said.
So what more needs to be done?
Patti said he's working now in his role as county supervisor on adding more police satellite stations throughout Stockton and improving access to education and vocational training for young people.
"Nothing lowers crime more than a job. Give people a future, a way to earn money. They don't have to go do petty crimes. They don't have to go looting, or beat people up or do carjackings, all the bad things that happen when people are desperate," Patti said.
Fugazi said, as mayor, she would focus on helping Stockton retain its police force.
"I wholeheartedly support our officers and the tough job they do day in and day out. During my time on council, I was the only one asking for an audit of funds that were earmarked for public safety. Now. we are faced with low numbers due to officers leaving for other cities, retiring, or leaving the profession altogether," Fugazi said. "That is a problem, and we need to focus our attention on police retention and recruitment as well as building bridges and trust throughout our city between the community and our officers."
According to the report by Simmrin Law Group, the California counties with the state's lowest rates of violent crime per 1,000 residents were also in the greater Sacramento region.
Placer County ranked lowest on the list, with El Dorado County coming in two spots above.