Serious crimes at record low in Newport in 2014

Serious crimes dropped to the lowest number on record in Newport Beach during 2014, adding another year to a decade-long trend of declining crime in the city, according to statistics released by the Police Department on Thursday.

Overall, police tracked an 11.9% drop in what are known as Part 1 crimes, which the federal government classifies as homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, auto theft and arson.

Of the 1,985 reports in those categories, only robberies increased — 21 in 2014, compared with 13 the year before.

Despite that, police officials said robberies, too, are trending down.

Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella said 2013 was a “remarkably low year for [that crime].” She added that 2014 had the second-lowest number of robberies in the past five years.

Reports in every other violent-crime category — rape, aggravated assault and homicide — decreased. But the increase in robberies caused the overall number of violent offenses to rise to 90 from 84.

Even with that bump, violent crime in 2014 was almost 27% below the five-year average, Manzella said.

The city’s overall number of property crimes dropped 12.6%, driven mostly by 96 fewer burglaries and 169 fewer thefts than in 2013.

Theft is by far the most common crime in Newport Beach, with 1,425 reported in 2014. Burglary was second, with 360.

The Police Department has been pushing to raise the public’s awareness about preventing property crime.

Officials launched an ad campaign near the end of 2013 called “The Stolen Collection,” which used a fashion show theme to remind residents to lock their cars or homes and never leave valuables unattended.

Reports of thefts from vehicles were essentially flat compared with 2013, according to the statistics.

Police officials also credited the continued decrease in serious crime to a new state-of-the-art dispatch system, a dedicated crime-suppression unit and ramped-up community outreach through social media and Neighborhood Watch programs.

“Crime prevention is a team sport,” Newport Beach Police Chief Jay Johnson said in a statement. “It takes collaboration of all the stakeholders working together to combat the criminal element that attempts to prey upon our beautiful community.”