Yuma Crime: Is crime increasing or decreasing?
It seems like everywhere you turn crime can or is affecting someone you know.
From robberies to physical crimes and lately cyber crimes, is our small beloved town having a crime problem?
We decided to hit the streets of Yuma to find out how local crime is affecting you.
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And he’s right.
According to the Yuma Police Department statistics robberies have increased from 2013 to 2016.
But overall burglaries and thefts are down.
Theft of a motor vehicle, a very common occurrence, down since 2013.
And burglaries now down compared to the 810 incidences in 2013.
But its at key times throughout the year that YPD says you should still take caution when walking arounD your local neighborhoods.
” If you’re out at night and you’re driving around, make sure via walking, via biking via driving, try to stay in light areas ” says Sergeant Lori Franklin from The Yuma Police Department.
Officer Sanchez says, ” When the winter visitors come, they are very relaxed. They tend to leave the vehicle unattended, sometime they leave it on or they leave their purses.”
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It’s been an issue that we’ve been hearing in recent years which is why crime offenses have been on the rise. Other factors like unemployment and the rise and opioid demand could also play a role.
{Trump talking about building a wall to stop drugs}
We’ll see how this epidemic is solved in the next few years.
Another big issue is sex crimes and the rise of human trafficking. It remains a concern to law enforcement in the new age of Technology.
“You know, just be careful who you talk to. Theres a lot of people who say they are this certain person and they’re not. Don’t just accept people just because they show a picture. Do a little background. Check the profile photos, and let your parents know. Just don’t be too relax” says Officer Sanchez.
Despite what you may see on social media.
You’ll be happy to know that overall crime is down.
But like everything else crime is evolving. Criminals are getting smarter with the rise of scams.
“Another one I’ve seen a lot of its the gift card scams. you know, the IRS they call and say we’re going to get the police department to go and arrest you” says Officer Sanchez Greg Wilkinson with the City of Yuma agrees, “The internet has brought out all kinds of things. There’s something new everyday, a new scam. people are cloning email addresses and all that kind of stuff. That’s really education, and we do put money into educating the public to try to prevent thing. The most valuable dollar we spend is on prevention not enforcement.”
