ARVIN, Calif. — The Arvin Police Department released the latest statistics from their annual crime report during the Arvin City Council, Tuesday evening.
"We saw a decrease in homicides, we saw a decrease in rapes, we saw a decrease also in the aggravated assaults," Chief Scot Kimble of the Arvin Police Department said.
Chief Kimble said there are positives in the annual police report for the Arvin Police Department. In 2017, violent crimes spiked with 229 reported. Since then, the numbers have gone down, and in 2019 there were 201 reported.
While violent crimes were less last year compared to 2017, it's higher than in 2018. It's also not the only type of crime on the rise.
"However, in some of the other categories did increase, such as property crimes. For example, or the simple assaults so that affects the overall numbers," Chief Kimble said.
The report shows property crime had the most increase, followed by violent crime and simple assault. A simple assault is defined as an act of pushing or slapping someone.
The Arvin Police Department, however, is working to bring down the numbers by reminding people to never leave items in your car visibly out or leaving your car or a home door unlocked.
"Those folks who are committing a lot of property crimes are looking for crimes of opportunity," Chief Kimble said.
It's an opportunity that appears to be on the rise according to the report. In 2018, there were 319 property crimes reported. Following that year, in 2019, there were a total of 453 property crimes.
Chief Kimble said the department is looking to hire more officers to combat the rise in crime.
"I believe we can find those officers, and hire them and get them trained," Chief Kimble said. "We can not only strengthen our patrol force but then we can branch off into some specialty divisions, such as traffic enforcement, K-9 and detectives."
This year the Chief said the department hopes to hire four to five additional police officers. The department is also encouraging the community to help. Officials said people should report crimes, and if necessary, utilize the anonymous tip line at (661) 606-6064.
"If they share the information about what's going on out there in their community that helps us to better do our jobs, and be able to give them the quality of life issues that they are concerned about," Chief Kimble said.
Chief Kimble said the department will continue to host their town hall meetings, establish a neighborhood watch and are currently testing body-worn cameras to assist with their efforts within the community.
