Rosarito’s Year-To-Date Crime Total Declines To Lowest Level In 5 Years

The number of crimes in this city from January to August of 2009 compared to the same eight months of 2008 declined by 24 percent, according to state government figures.

Rosarito had the largest decrease of any of northern Baja’s five cities --- which had an average decline of 10 percent --- and it was the only city where figures reached a five-year low.

“We are proud of the decrease,”

said Rosarito Beach Mayor Hugo Torres.

“We attribute it to improving our police force and expanding its size from about 140 officers to about 230, better equipment and expanded citizen watch efforts.”

“Police Chief Jorge Montero also has done an exceptional job,”

he said. Montero, a former Army captain, was brought in as chief in December of 2007.

Torres also cited strong support from the state attorney general’s office and arrests of high-level criminals by the Mexican military as reasons for the decline.

“We know there is much additional work to do, as there always is in fighting crime, but these are some very solid and encouraging numbers,”

added Torres, who took office in December of 2007.

The total number of crimes throughout the state declined from 92,060 to 83,155, with Rosarito accounting for 3 percent. Almost every major category declined with the exception of homicides, which went from 417 to 482 in Baja and 17 to 19 in Rosarito.

“The increase is primarily due to members of rival drug cartels killing each other as it becomes tougher for them to function because of the government’s crackdown on organized crime,”

Torres said.

“We hope to see a significant reduction in that category in the future. Currently it’s significantly higher than the U.S. average although lower than 2007 figures for cities including New Orleans and Baltimore, and about the same as Washington, D.C.”

In other categories in Rosarito, total crimes of violence went from 40 to 39 (-3 percent), robberies and burglaries (combined) from 1,657 to 1,178 (-29 percent), vehicle thefts from 768 to 430 (-44 percent) and home burglaries from 362 to 364 (+1 percent).