Some crimes drop, but homicides in Coachella Valley jump in 2022. Here's what police say

Editor's note: The Desert Sun is also publishing 2022 crime statistics for every city in the Coachella Valley. To see them all, go to bit.ly/ValleyCrimeStats.

Serious crimes overall were down last year in most of the Coachella Valley, preliminary reports show, but there were more homicides than there had been in at least a decade.

Like many cities around the nation, the region had seen a rise in violent crime in recent years. The valley's nine cities reported a decade-high 32 homicides in 2019, followed by 30 in 2020 and 31 in 2021. Statistics from law-enforcement agencies, which The Desert Sun verified when possible with the departments, show that trend has accelerated.

Police in the valley investigated 37 deaths as homicides in 2022, though that number could change as investigations continue.

The Desert Sun excluded from that tally fatal traffic collisions that resulted in criminal charges of manslaughter alone, but one crash in Desert Hot Springs that was investigated as a murder is included.

Each law enforcement agency reports crime data monthly to the California Department of Justice for the FBI's Uniform Crime Report Program. The Desert Sun collected and analyzed these reports from every city in the Coachella Valley from 2010 through September 2022, the most recent month in which numbers are available from every city. The police departments won't submit the formal numbers until later in 2023.

The Desert Sun also used available crime reports and an unofficial database of such events kept by the paper to analyze homicides, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and vehicle thefts throughout the region. Records were gathered from Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indio and Palm Springs, which have their own police departments. Records for Coachella, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage were collected from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which provides police services for those cities.

‘Ghost guns’ and prevention

Chiefs, elected officials and other law-enforcement leaders in many cities discussed what they think is behind the rise in homicides — and what they're doing about it.

Desert Hot Springs finished the year with seven homicides, one more than the year before. Deputy Chief Steven Shaw said that in recent years, the department has seen an increase in seizures of illegal firearms that do not have serial numbers, sometimes referred to as ghost guns. Shootings account for the majority of the homicides in the region.

"Officers are recovering a lot of guns off the street, and most are ghost guns," Shaw said. "A good portion are from folks who have prior records who aren’t legally permitted to have firearms."

Coachella ended the year with 11 homicides, the most that city has reported any year since before 2010. The sheriff's department did not respond to inquiries to verify this count.

In an interview, Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez said the violence has been "very concerning" and expressed his condolences to those who have lost loved ones. He said he was aware of nine of the cases being solved.

"We take this very seriously and provide the resources necessary for justice to be served," he said.

He echoed previous statements he made to The Desert Sun in November, saying the city has considered increasing the number of deputies patrolling. Because several of the victims were young, including two juveniles, Hernandez said continuing to invest in resources and programs aimed at youth could also help.

"For us, it’s really about prevention and intervention, really trying to look at: Are there trends that are festering that we need to address?" Hernandez said. "We need to work on community policing. Perhaps we've really got to think about our social connections, churches, organizations, groups that can help people and guide them through what they’re going through. Hopefully, we can continue to create more community love with one another."

Coachella Councilmember Neftali Galarza similarly said the city has focused on providing more opportunities for its youth. He mentioned that the city has arranged for office space to be leased to non profits cheaply, providing an opportunity to partner with them to help address related issues.

"Public safety is a number one concern to our residents, and the biggest budget line is policing and public safety," Galarza said. "What is the right solution to solve this? I think it’s complicated for public officials and public administrators. I like to believe in more investment in the community, further investment in parks and recreation for youth. We’ve done a good job of going after grants for these projects."

Coachella is among the valley's cities that contract for police services from the sheriff's department. The department's rising costs have been a topic of debate in recent elections. Galarza said the city is continuing to research creating its own police department, which he and other councilmembers believe could keep the cost of policing down in the long run and provide the community with more control of how it is protected.

La Quinta, another contract city, also saw a rise in homicides, with two in 2022. The two homicides are the second most in the last decade behind a five-homicide spike in 2019. Sheriff's Lt. Andy Martinez, who helps coordinate the deputies patrolling La Quinta, noted both suspects were family members of the victims.

“They were relatives of each other, so (those homicides) were not gang-related in any way, or we don’t have a serial murderer out running the streets,” Martinez told The Desert Sun.

La Quinta also reported the same number of aggravated assaults, 44, through November 2022 that it did in all of 2021. Martinez said aggravated assault statistics typically include domestic violence cases, which make up a "significant portion" of assaults reported in La Quinta.

Cathedral City Police Chief George Crum said he focused resources in 2022 on gang suppression, and as in other cities, he noted a rise in the number of guns seized. That city reported two homicides in 2022, one less than the year before.

"If you have some sustained teams focusing on the root problems in our individual cities, you can see some success," Crum said. "The high visibility of patrol officers in areas where we know we see higher numbers of certain crimes, interacting with the communities in those areas, that’s a deterrent. When we have a decent, trusting relationship, that helps us solve crimes."

Palm Springs Police Chief Andrew Mills said his department was faced with a concerning string of violent crimes early in 2022, which he focused resources on. The city reported five homicides in 2022, two fewer than the year before.

"We had a lot of gun violence in the first part of the year, 101 felony arrests," Mills said Tuesday. "We took a couple dozen guns off the street. When you take guns off the street, out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, that makes an impact."

Behind the drops in crime

Throughout the Coachella Valley, aggravated assaults are generally down, with most cities seeing drops from 2021 to 2022.

Indio's 225 assaults in all of 2022, for example, were down more than a third from the prior year's 341. And its reported seven homicides were one fewer than in 2021. Next door in Coachella, even as homicides increased, there were 82 assaults through September, some 30% less than the 130 in all of 2021.

Indio Police Chief Mike Washburn was cautious to credit the improvements in his city to any one effort by the department, except for the hard work of his staff. He noted during an interview Thursday that the department has increased the number of uniformed officers, including motorcycle officers, and code enforcement, while continuing to focus on the need to hire.

"We don't know what we prevent by being visible, but we know it works," Washburn said, noting numbers in almost every crime category are trending down. "We had a concerted effort to bring on more officers, even on overtime, to make sure that we’ve had the right number that we need on the street. I think it's an increase in visibility."

Burglaries were down in nearly every city, with substantial drops in two. While Palm Springs reported 515 burglaries in 2021, it saw 394 in 2022, according to statistics provided by the department. Palm Desert burglaries similarly dropped from 365 in 2021, to 142 last year.

Mills said the department has stressed the community can be more vigilant about reducing the opportunities for property crimes, such as by not leaving valuables in plain sight and unsecured.

"We arrested a few people who may have had a disproportionate impact, but in many ways the community can protect themselves," Mills said. "We're not going to successfully reduce crime unless we get rid of the opportunity."

Desert Hot Springs reported about 80 burglaries through September 2022, less than half what it has averaged in years prior. Shaw similarly said the department found most of these cases were crimes of opportunity repeated by the same perpetrators. Early in the year, he said, there was a string of home burglaries that officers tied to a group of juveniles.

"We got a call while one was going on, and we had figured out from the previous cases where their getaway route was," Shaw said. "And, sure enough, we got them as they were attempting to flee. It was just good work by the officers at the time."

Coachella reported 65 burglaries in 2021 and 70 through September. But as in the other cities, its rate of burglaries when controlled for population is well down from what it was a decade ago.

In 2010, Palm Springs experienced about 14 burglaries for every 1,000 residents. In 2022, preliminary data shows the rate is nearly half, closer to 7.3. In 2010, Palm Desert experienced about 13 burglaries for every 1,000 residents and now about four. Coachella experienced about 14 burglaries for 1,000 residents in 2010, and, even with a slight rise in 2022, the rate is around two.

Robberies were down or remained at 2021 levels in most of the nine cities, except a marginal rise in La Quinta and a jump in Rancho Mirage from two in 2021 to eight through September of 2022. In Cathedral City, statistics include a spike in robberies, which reports show reflects a different reporting method rather than a major increase in the crime.

Indio saw a significant drop in robberies, from 77 in 2021 to 31 through September. So did Palm Desert, which reported 33 in 2021, and a mere six through September of last year.

"We’re enormous believers in community policing," said Indio's chief, Washburn. "An engaged community is a lot more than our eyes and ears. They problem solve for you."

Auto thefts a stubborn problem

Most cities are projecting auto thefts in 2022 that are just slightly lower than the year before. However, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs and Cathedral City are on track to be above the average for the prior few years.

Palm Springs, for example, reported 440 auto thefts in 2021 and 317 through September. Rancho Mirage reported 97 in 2021 and 91 through September. Both are on pace to be slightly below the year prior once final numbers are reported. Indian Wells could have half the year prior's number, with 17 in 2021 and six through September.

Shaw said auto thefts have been a stubbornly persistent regional problem, but added that most vehicles are recovered in the area.

"The vast majority of the cars are being stolen and found in the Coachella Valley," Shaw said. "They take it to get from point A to point B. A lot of times it’s older cars that are easy to steal or keys being left in cars."

The Cathedral City chief, Crum, said he was surprised to see certain property crimes falling last year, given that cost of living and inflation has gone up notably, which over his three decades in policing usually correlates with a rise in such offenses.

"We’re costing people out of the life they may have lived prior to the pandemic," Crum said. "As people struggle financially, we, as law enforcement officers, should expect a rise in crime as a consequence."

Perception and community

Several police and elected officials said residents' reactions to the ups and downs in crime trends have been amplified recently by how quickly information, and sometimes misinformation, is shared. They said constituents often express a belief about crime that might not reflect the actual statistics.

"You can't fight an emotional argument with data," said Mills, the chief in Palm Springs. "Regardless of what the crime data shows, for many people it's their perception that counts, and what we're seeing is a swelling insecurity."

Washburn similarly noted that he speaks with Indio residents about their perceptions of high rates of crimes that aren't backed up by the data the police department has.

"I urge people to report crime if they observe it so we have accurate data," he said. "But also don't get panicked. Tell us about your concerns, and we can provide more information about what we know is going on."

Crum said community engagement is a primary focus for Cathedral City police in 2023. He noted the pandemic made it very difficult to maintain good communication with residents during a pivotal moment in American policing, after murder of George Floyd in Minnesota in May 2020.

"I think that when you go back to May 2020, and the impact Minneapolis had on American policing, it’s imperative that we stay connected," Crum said. "We have to address where our profession needs to be transformed to meet the communities we police."

Mills said that during his previous career with the San Diego Police Department, he worked events at the city's stadium, formerly the home of an NFL team. He said his department would make "hundreds of arrests in a two-hour period during some of those events."

"We had about 100,000 people at Pride this last year, and we had zero arrests related to it," Mills said. "People chose to be civil and to be kind to one another. We were safe because people chose to be safe."

Hernandez of Coachella similarly said he believes his city is headed in the right direction, even as homicides have risen, stating crime is generally down from the highs the city experienced in years past.

"We're coming out of a life-changing pandemic and, in many ways, people are disconnected; they're figuring out how to be a community again," Hernandez said.

And several people interviewed echoed that leadership through the transition will be key.

"From Washington, D.C., to local cities, it's really important how we talk to one another," Mills said. "I think you see the numbers tend to drop when the tension is lessened in a community. We in government can help set the level of civility."

Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com or follow him at @chris_a_damien.

The Desert Sun reporter Tom Coulter contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Crime in 2022: Coachella Valley sees many drops, but homicides increase