Crime is down in San Antonio this year, driven largely by reductions in property-related offenses.
On Tuesday, San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus presented data from the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.
From January through November, total Group A offenses — the primary crime categories reported by U.S. law enforcement to the FBI — fell about 13% compared with the same period in 2024. Property crime declined roughly 18%, while crimes against persons fell about 9% during the same period.
SAPD’s latest figures show declines across several major crime categories compared with the same period in 2024, a trend city leaders have closely watched as they press the department to focus on offenses that most directly affect residents’ daily lives.
Property crime saw the largest overall decrease, falling about 18% from 100,457 offenses last year to 82,232 this year. The data showed sharp reductions across several high-volume categories that have been a key focus of city leaders and law enforcement in recent years.
Motor vehicle theft fell about 26%, while reports of larceny and theft declined roughly 14%. Incidents of destruction, damage and vandalism dropped nearly 30%, accounting for one of the largest single-category decreases during the first 11 months of the year.
Burglary and breaking-and-entering offenses declined more modestly, falling about 4% compared with the same period last year.
Crimes against persons declined about 9% compared with the same period last year, driven largely by a drop of more than 3,000 assault offenses, which remain the most common violent crime category in San Antonio.
In total, 28,361 crimes against persons were reported from Jan. 1 through the end of November, down from 31,180 during the same period in 2024.
In contrast, crimes against society increased by about 15%, rising from 11,892 offenses last year to 13,721, bucking the downward trend seen in other categories.
The increase was driven largely by a rise in drug and narcotics offenses, which accounted for more than 81% of crimes against society reported during the first 11 months of the year.
McManus said the increase in crimes against society reflects heightened enforcement rather than a surge in underlying criminal behavior.
“Crimes against society typically don’t get reported unless there’s an arrest made,” McManus said, adding that the rise points to more proactive policing activity by patrol officers and specialized units.
Other offenses in the category, including animal cruelty, weapons law violations and prostitution offenses, saw slight reductions.
SAPD officials noted that NIBRS data can change throughout the year as cases are reclassified or reported later by victims.
The department also reported improvements in calls for service and response times. Emergency response times declined to an average of 5 minutes and 29 seconds through November — nearly a one-minute improvement since 2023 — while both emergency and non-emergency call volumes continued to trend downward year over year.