Merced’s reports of violent, property crimes went up roughly 19% in 2021. See the numbers

The City of Merced reported a roughly 19% rise in reported violent and property crimes combined, according to data released by the city’s police department.

The numbers detail Part 1 crimes in the City of Merced — data that’s submitted by cities to the FBI annually.

Part 1 crimes generally include some of the most serious reported incidents. Violent crimes include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crimes include burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson.

Topping the list of violent crimes, Merced police recorded 13 murder/non-negligent homicide cases in 2021 compared to seven in 2020, an increase of 85.71%.

Merced Police Chief Tom Cavallero said seven of the city’s homicides in 2021 appear to be related to either gangs, drugs or both.

Cavallero said the department is doing its part to be proactive in taking guns off the street, thanks to the efforts of the Gang Violence Suppression Unit.

He said a total of 329 guns were seized by the department as evidence in 2021. “That is a priority for the officers assigned to the GVSU, is to get illegally possessed guns and illegal firearms off the street,” he said.

Overall, the city had 1,258 reported violent crimes in 2021 compared to 1,212 in 2020 — an increase of roughly 4%. The city had 2,622 reported property crimes in 2021 compared to 2,050 in 2020, an increase of roughly 28%.

The data comes as Merced County reported 32 homicides in 2021 — the highest number of deaths reported locally in five years.

The last time more than 30 homicides were recorded in Merced County was 2015.

It’s important to point out the numbers only include crimes reported directly to law enforcement. Many crimes go unreported every year.

Other aspects of the data

Despite the overall rise in Part 1 crimes, there were some individual categories that saw decreases.

Forcible rape offenses decreased by 7.5% in 2021 with 37 offenses recorded compared to 40 in 2020.

The city also saw an 18.05% decrease in total robbery offenses with 109 recorded in 2021 compared to 133 in 2020. Total burglary offenses recorded in the city decreased by 25.64% with 290 in 2021, down from 390 recorded in 2020.

Offenses which increased in 2021 include total aggravated assaults with 1,099 recorded in 2021 compared to 1,031 in 2020, an increase of 6.60%. Larceny (not including auto theft) saw an increase of 44.17% during 2021 with 1,632 offenses recorded compared to 1,132 in 2020.

The city also saw a rise in auto theft offenses with at total of 574 recorded in 2021 compared to 427 in 2020, an increase of 34.43%. Arson offenses in the city increased with 126 recorded in 2021 compared to 101 in 2020, an increase of 24.75%.

Note on homicides

The Merced County Coroner’s Office recorded 15 homicides in the city in 2021. That number differs from the police department’s count of 13 for two reasons.

According to Merced Police Department Crime Analyst Lance Eber, the Merced Police Department did not include a November officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of armed robbery suspect 27-year-old Rodolpho Ruiz.

Eber said that homicide is reported to the FBI and is classified as “Justifiable homicide by a peace officer.”

The other way the police department’s total year end homicide numbers differ from the coroner is in the April shooting death of 19-year-old Tatyanna Lopez and her unborn child. According to the coroner’s office, the death of the child is recorded as a homicide. The Merced Police Department records Lopez and her unborn child’s death as one homicide case.

According to Eber, the FBI records the death(s) as one person.

According to the California Department of Justice Uniform Crime Report, the city reported one manslaughter by negligence incident in 2020.

This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 10:27 AM.