San Diego's violent crime rate dropped for the fourth year in a row last year. New data from the FBI and the police department show overall crime is down more than 2 percent. KPBS reporter Andrew Phelps has details.
1967 is the last time crime was this low in San Diego. Homicides in 2007 fell nearly 15 percent from the year before. Also down were rapes, robberies, and vehicle thefts. San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne gives credit to anti-domestic violence tactics. And he credits investments in new technology, paid for in large part by federal Homeland Security grants.
Lansdowne: We have four brand new helicopters, state-of-the-art. We struggled with the old helicopters. There was a time when I was being told across the nation that we had the oldest active helicopter in the country. All that's been changed.
Not all the news is good. Gang homicides rose 61 percent last year. Lansdowne says gang violence will be the number one priority in 2008.
Andrew Phelps, KPBS News.
