Property crimes, primarily thefts, made up most of the illegal activity in La Jolla in 2025, with more than 1,000 reports during the year, according to the San Diego Police Department’s annual compilation of crime statistics for the city.

The crime report, released last week, is based on the National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS, managed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The system provides statistics for more than two dozen types of crimes, broken into three broad categories: crimes against a person, such as homicide, assault and sexual assault; crimes against property, including robbery, other types of theft and vandalism; and crimes against society, such as drug offenses, prostitution and animal cruelty.

The data can be viewed by individual neighborhoods, giving residents a sense of what crimes are reported near where they live. To see the neighborhood-by-neighborhood report, go to bit.ly/40sqRcQ.

In La Jolla, 1,101 crimes against property were recorded in 2025, including:

• Robbery (taking from a person by force or threat of force): 13

• Arson: 1

• Burglary (unlawful entry of a structure to commit a crime, usually theft): 68

• Larceny (such as shoplifting, pocket-picking and bicycle theft): 624

• Theft from a motor vehicle: 115

• Theft of a motor vehicle: 78

• Fraud/counterfeiting: 89

• Stolen-property offenses: 11

• Vandalism: 102

The figure for larceny represents a nearly 10% increase from 2024, when the Police Department reported 569 cases.

Why is La Jolla Village Square a popular target for shoplifters?

In the crimes against people category, La Jolla totaled 175 reports, including:

• Kidnapping/abduction: 1

• Sexual assault: 20

• Aggravated assault (with the purpose of inflicting serious bodily injury, usually involving a weapon): 36

• Simple assault (actions that cause minor injury or threaten physical harm): 102

• Intimidation: 16

There were no reports of homicide or non-assault sexual offenses.

In crimes against society, La Jolla had 40 reports, including:

• Drug/narcotic violations: 35

• Pornography/obscene materials violations: 2

• Weapons law violations: 3

There were no reports of gambling violations, prostitution or animal cruelty.

Representatives of the Police Department did not immediately respond to the La Jolla Light’s request for comment about how La Jolla compares with the rest of the city.

Crimes citywide fell by about 6% in 2025, police said, marking the fourth consecutive year San Diego has seen a decline in overall crime.

Violent and property crime dropped across the board, for which officials credited policing strategies, community partnerships and the work of all city departments for addressing and preventing crime. Officials also pointed to the use of technology such as license plate readers for declines in car thefts.

Officials say San Diego remains one of the safest big cities in the country, with a violent-crime rate of 4.1 per 1,000 residents.

The announcement “is something that is truly worth celebrating,” Mayor Todd Gloria said during a news conference March 9. “It also proves something that is extremely important, and that’s that a big city can also be a safe city.”

“Overall, crime citywide decreased by 6.3% in 2025 from 2024, continuing a multi-year downward trend since SDPD began reporting NIBRS crime stats in 2023,” according to a city statement. “Many of the major offense categories saw numbers similar to decades ago, when the city’s population was significantly smaller.”

Police Chief Scott Wahl said community groups are a major component in officers building deeper relationships with the neighborhoods they patrol. The chief said residents are regularly helping law enforcement with crime intervention and prevention.

“Trust is our No. 1 priority and will always be our No. 1 priority,” Wahl said. “All of San Diego is better when we work together.” ♦