Arrest rate increases, especially in juvenile sector

SAN DIEGO - The number of people taken into custody in San Diego County rose slightly last year, due primarily to a jump in juvenile arrests, it was announced last week.

The overall arrest rate, which includes both juveniles and adults, went up by two percent in the region from 2007 to 2008, growing from 42.2 arrests per 1,000 people to 42.9, according to a study by the San Diego Association of Governments.

The adult arrest rate climbed by one percent last year, while the number of juveniles arrested increased by nine percent from 49.9 arrests per 1,000 people to 54.2, according to SANDAG.

“Arrest rates are an indicator of where law enforcement agencies are concentrating their resources,” said Cynthia Burke, SANDAG’s director of criminal justice research.”

During 2008, as compared to 2007, statistics show increases in juvenile arrests in several categories, in part reflecting a concerted effort by a number of jurisdictions to target youth for curfew and truancy violations through sweeps.

San Diego County was the only large county in the state to see an increase in arrest rates in 2008, according to SANDAG.

Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties all had decreases in arrest rates last year.

The statistics were outlined in SANDAG’s report “Arrests 2008: Law Enforcement Response to Crime in the San Diego Region.”