TL;DR
San Diego, home to 1.3M residents, saw 63,938 serious crimes and 10,723 arrests for minor offenses in the first half of 2024. DUI arrests totaled 2,269, and a human trafficking sting at Comic-Con led to 14 arrests. For bail assistance, Bail Hotline offers 24/7 support across the region.
San Diego is home to more than 1.3 million residents, making it the second-largest city in California by population and the eighth-largest in the country.
In such a large city, even a proportionately small amount of crime will lead to many arrests related to a wide range of laws. So, what are the San Diego arrest reason statistics? In other words, what are the most common reasons for San Diego, CA, arrests?
Keep reading to learn more about arrests in San Diego, CA. We’ll look at the most recent data available – information from 2023 and the halfway point of 2024. Because arrest statistics take time to compile, especially in large cities, full data from 2024 is not yet available.
Do you need to help a friend or loved one who was arrested in San Diego post bail, exit pre-trial holding, and return to their home and regular life? Bail Hotline’s expert team is here to help 24/7. Reach out to our local San Diego office to learn more.
San Diego Arrest Reason Statistics and Crime Statistics: The Basics
SANDAG, the San Diego Association of Governments, released mid-year crime statistics for the year 2024 in December of that year. This information, while not a complete review of 2024 arrests in San Diego, CA, and the surrounding region, provides useful info about crime issues through the first half of that year.
As the report notes, the data itself comes from law enforcement agencies, which report this data to the FBI and California Department of Justice.
Keep in mind that the following info represents six-month crime figures. While simply doubling them to account for the full year won’t provide a precisely accurate or complete total, it can offer a reasonable estimation of offenses across all of 2024.
The report divides crimes and related arrests into two major, overarching categories. These are Group A and Group B offenses. Group A represents more serious crimes and breaks down into three main subcategories:
- Crimes against people. These include assault, murder, and similarly grave offenses that harm other people.
- Crimes against property. These offenses include robbery, burglary, vandalism, arson, and other crimes that harm property.
- Crimes against society. These crimes are essentially “vice” crimes – drug offenses, weapons offenses, and similar violations of the law.
While the report doesn’t track arrests specifically, it found that 63,938 Group A offenses were committed in the San Diego region in the first six months of 2024. That represents a decrease in these serious crimes overall in recent years, down 4% from 2023 and 14% from 2021.
Group B offenses, which represent less serious crimes ranging from loitering to disorderly conduct and trespassing, are the other major group tracked in the report. These crimes are only recorded if an arrest is made, so we can see more clearly into San Diego arrest reason statistics for Group B offenses.
There were 10,723 total arrests made related to Group B offenses across greater San Diego in the first six months of 2024. Liquor law violations were the only category of Group B offenses to increase by a substantial amount, up 65% compared to mid-year 2023 statistics.
Besides trespassing and the catch-all “all other offenses” category, the incidence of Group B offenses all dropped as compared to the same period in 2023.
San Diego County Arrests Specifically
While not aligning perfectly with the greater San Diego region, San Diego County arrest statistics help us understand arrests in the area specifically. That’s as opposed to the combination of arrest and crimes committed data shared by SANDAG.
The California Department of Justice shares county-level yearly arrest statistics for counties across the state. For 2023, the most recent year for which statistics are available, there were 18,636 felony arrests and 41,632 misdemeanor arrests in San Diego County. That adds up to 60,268 total arrests in San Diego in all categories.
Focused Arrest Statistics in San Diego
Let’s dive a little deeper into the data to look at a few areas of arrest data that may be especially interesting to local residents.
San Diego DUI arrests – arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs – were reported in SANDAG’s 2024 mid-year report. Because DUI falls under Group B offenses, the data is specific to arrests as opposed to total crime reports. The total number of DUI arrests across greater San Diego was 2,269 for the first six months of 2024.
San Diego Comic-Con Arrests
The San Diego Comic-Con is one of the largest comic and pop culture conventions across the globe. Having started in 1970, it’s grown to the point where it attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees for each yearly event.
As with nearly any large-scale events, such as major sports championships and other comic cons, crime unfortunately occurs at and around the San Diego Comic-Con convention.
The highest-profile recent arrests for serious crimes at the San Diego Comic-Con occurred at the 2024 version of the event. The US Department of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies conducted a human trafficking sting, making 14 arrests related to human trafficking while recovering 10 victims of sex trafficking.
Comprehensive statistics for all arrests related to the Comic-Con, covering more minor and other major crimes, are not available as a distinct data set separate from general arrest statistics in San Diego.
Help With Arrests and Bail in San Diego and Across California
Have you, a friend, or a family member been arrested in the greater San Diego area? Bail Hotline is here to help people take advantage of their rights and exit pre-trial holding, allowing them to return to normal life and better prepare for upcoming legal obligations. Get in touch with our local San Diego office to learn more!
