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# Berkeley police annual report: Violent crime rose 15% in 2023
- URL: https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2024/03/19/policing/berkeley-crime-report-2023-city-council/
- Published: 2024-03-19T21:05:15.000Z
- Updated: 2024-06-30T01:56:28.000Z
- Description: Crime levels are "returning to or surpassing pre-pandemic levels," with increases across nearly all major violent and property crimes, BPD said.
- Author: Emilie Raguso
- Tags: Policing, Crime trends, Crime and police data, City Council, Deep dives, #articles

Serious crime was up 10.5% in Berkeley in 2023, driven largely by increases in robbery and auto theft, BPD reported to the [City Council](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/berkeley-city-council/) last week. 

Berkeley's annual crime report takes place each March and offers a look at significant crime trends as well as projects underway in the [Berkeley Police Department](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/berkeley-police-department/).

BPD said crime levels were "returning to or surpassing pre-pandemic levels," with increases across nearly all major violent and property crime categories that are tracked annually.

Those increases are "part of a trend in the East Bay," Berkeley police said, with similar increases in preliminary data from Oakland and Richmond.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-19-at-12.34.13-PM.jpg)

Serious crime saw a 10.5% increase in Berkeley in 2023\. **BPD*

Violent crime saw a 15% increase in Berkeley last year, with sex crimes and [robbery](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/robberies/) both rising.

Pedestrian robberies and carjackings were both up significantly in Berkeley last year. 

Armed robberies saw a five-year high, with 29% of Berkeley robberies involving a gun last year.

Property crime was up about 10%, with burglary, auto theft and arson all increasing. 

Exceptions were homicides, down from 3 in 2022 to 1 in 2023, and larceny, which dropped slightly. Serious assaults were flat.

BPD also noted that injury and non-injury [shootings were down in 2023](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/12/06/shootings/berkeley-shootings-gunfire-map-2023/) when compared to spikes in 2021 and 2022, but still remain "substantially higher" than in other recent years.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-19-at-12.34.30-PM.jpg)

Injury and non-injury shootings in Berkeley from 2017 to 2023\. **BPD*

### Hate crimes on the rise in Berkeley

Berkeley also saw an increase in hate crimes in 2023: up to 46 last year from 38 in 2022, with antisemitic hate crimes in particular having become more common since Oct. 7.

BPD said there were 10 antisemitic hate crimes in 2023: five in the nine months before Oct. 7 and five in the nearly three months afterward. 

There were two anti-Arab hate crimes reported in all of 2023, BPD said.

As for hate incidents — which don't rise to the level of a crime — there were 18 last year that were linked to antisemitism (including 13 after Oct. 7) and four that were classified as anti-Arab or anti-Muslim (with none after Oct. 7), BPD said.

### Other highlights from Berkeley's 2023 crime report

- Berkeley 911 calls were at their highest level in five years, with around 14,100 in 2023
- Officer-initiated calls were at a five-year low, from a high of more than 20,000 in 2019 to around 15,000 last year
- Berkeley had about 64,000 calls for service in total
- Gun recoveries were at a five-year low, with 69 guns seized in 2023 compared to 119 the prior year
- BPD staffing remained at a historic low, with 153 sworn officers on the force (but closer to 127 available for full, solo duty)
- BPD officers are spending more time on each call and handling more calls per shift
- The median response time for the most serious BPD calls was 7 minutes ("meeting regional standards")
- BPD said its crime clearance rates are "tracking similarly" to other cities "for the most part"
- BPD said its analysis of department data found no systemic bias in officer-initiated car stops or searches during police stops, with "yield rates" during searches similar across racial groups
- BPD said uses of force were also similar across racial groups when using arrests as a baseline
- There were seven internal and Police Accountability Board investigations into BPD uses of force in 2023, none of which found misconduct, BPD said

[Berkeley police bike team cleared of claims made by fired copThe former sergeant of the bike unit remains on paid leave pending the completion of a misconduct investigation into his text messages.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/size/w256h256/format/jpeg/2022/09/The-Berkeley-Scanner_Icon_Color-1.jpg)The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2023/07/BI6A3807.jpg)](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/07/20/policing/berkeley-police-bike-team-cleared-systemic-problems/)

### More resources on BPD crime stats

- Read BPD's [2023 crime report](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WIiIpGn46TwFEfWdo7nWXDZIWVGhXF6e/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=berkeleyscanner.com)
- See more [highlights from the crime report](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X7Ao3F-emuTbTg4MKYqGAS2eePs6XLiE/view?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) in BPD's presentation from last week
- [Watch the full recording](https://berkeleyca.gov/your-government/city-council/city-council-agendas?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) from the March 12 special meeting (at 4 p.m.)
- Read [UCPD's annual report](https://ucpd.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/uc%5Fberkeley%5Fasfsr.pdf?ref=berkeleyscanner.com) for 2023

### Editor's note on Berkeley crime data

[Berkeley crime trends in 2023: What you need to knowWhich Berkeley crimes went up last year and which went down? We pored over the 2023 data to bring you the trends and highlights.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/size/w256h256/format/jpeg/2022/09/The-Berkeley-Scanner_Icon_Color-1.jpg)The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2024/01/berkeley-police-standoff.jpg)](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2024/01/12/policing/berkeley-crime-2023-trends-data-explainer/)

The Scanner published a rundown of 2023 Berkeley crime trends in January, which found many similar highlights as those reported last week.

The exact numbers may be different for a couple of key reasons. 

- For tracking day-to-day and historic crime tallies, The Scanner uses BPD's [Transparency Hub](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/04/27/traffic-safety/berkeley-traffic-data-transparency-hub/) data portal, which calculates numbers slightly differently than federal reporting standards
- Unlike BPD data, The Scanner's comprehensive Berkeley gunfire map includes freeway shootings reported to the CHP and gunfire on UCPD property, leading to slight differences from BPD totals

[Berkeley shootings in 2023: The definitive gunfire mapBerkeley had 35 shootings in 2023 with eight people wounded. BPD also had two fatal police shootings.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/size/w256h256/format/jpeg/2022/09/The-Berkeley-Scanner_Icon_Color-1.jpg)The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2023/12/berkeley-gunfire-map-2023.jpg)](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/12/06/shootings/berkeley-shootings-gunfire-map-2023/)

### Other major public safety stories in Berkeley in 2023

- UCPD launched an investigation into a [skeleton discovered](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/uc-berkeley-skeleton/) at Clark Kerr
- TBS published an exclusive report on a Berkeley [bike cop fired for misconduct](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/04/20/policing/berkeley-police-corey-shedoudy-termination-report/)
- Berkeley finally got a [permanent police chief](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/05/11/policing/berkeley-police-chief-jen-louis-approved-city-council/)
- Berkeley pledged to [update its dispatch center](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/06/07/policing/berkeley-dispatch-center-outdated-overhaul-needed/)
- Council approved [license plate readers](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/10/11/policing/berkeley-approves-flock-license-plate-readers/) and [fixed surveillance cameras](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/06/14/policing/berkeley-officials-approve-surveillance-cameras/) for cops (although only one has been installed so far)
- Berkeley PD embarked on a [staffing analysis](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/06/27/policing/how-many-police-officers-does-berkeley-need/) (with results expected in May)
- A non-police crisis team, the [Specialized Care Unit](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/09/05/policing/berkeley-starts-scu-crisis-response-team-no-police/), hit the streets
- Berkeley marked the one-year anniversary of [two brothers from Berkeley High](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2023/11/08/jazy-and-angel-sotelo-garcia/angel-jazy-anniversary-scholarship/) who were killed at a friend's birthday party

*Read more about* [*policing*](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/policing/)*,* [*crime trends*](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/crime-trends/) *and* [*deep dives*](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/topic/deep-dives/) *on The Berkeley Scanner.*

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