SAN ANTONIO — As the new year rolls in, the San Antonio Police Department is reflecting on crime last year so they can be better equipped with insight for 2024.
Last year the department received more than 2.4 million calls. Chief of Police William McManus said from 2022 to 2023 there's been a nearly 10% decrease in violent crime. However, in that same period, property crimes have increased because of crooks after cars.
“What’s driving the property crimes is stolen vehicles,” McManus said.
McManus says motor vehicle thefts are up by six percent due in part to a social media trend during the summer.
“I think at least in part what’s driving that was that TikTok video that came out instructing people on how to steal the Kia.”
According to the data above, Kias were the most popular make stolen last year.
The chief says nearly 60% of property crime is residential.
“Not sure a lot of people are aware of how much one individual or one crew, how much damage they can do to a neighborhood or a section of the city," he said.
In the period of 2022 to 2023 there’s been a nearly 10% decrease in violent crime.
“Murders are down, assaults are down so that to me, that’s pushing us in the right direction,” McManus said.
One area that the force is concentrating on is family violence and intimate partner related homicide. This category has seen an increase from 2022. McManus says it has been and continues to be an issue in San Antonio.
“We provide a lot of services to the victims of domestic violence for services that they need," he said. "My issue is, how do we knock it down upstream. How do we prevent this from happening.”
McManus believes making people feel safer to report crime and work with detectives – eliminating that fear is the challenge. He feels community engagement units are working with the community to establish that relationship with police.