Visitor numbers were up in Mammoth Lakes last year, and crime went down. After police issued crime and traffic statistics for 2013, we talked to Police Chief Dan Watson who is not taking credit for the crime reduction. The Chief said that any police chief who takes credit would make a mistake. The crime rate, he said, will go back up. Watson said large swings in crime statistics are not uncommon. He did note that Mammoth has gone along with the nationwide trend of reduced crime.

The Pew Research Center reported that the national rate of non-fatal violent gun crime dropped 75% in the past 20 years. Homicides went down by 49%. Harvard’s School of Public Health reported that not just gun crime but all crime has gone down. Mammoth Police statistics show that in the last ten years, Part I crimes in Mammoth Lakes dropped from 430 in 2004 to 223 in 2012. Within those ten years, the number of crimes did drop, went back up and then dropped again.

The Chief had reported earlier this week that the Town experienced a 27% reduction in Part I crimes plus reductions in injury, Hit and Run, and DUI traffic collisions when compared to last year. Part I crimes include murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and car theft. According to police, all crimes showed a double digit decrease except for auto theft which increased from two stolen cars in 2012 to six in 2013. See our website for the Mammoth statistics.

Asked about the nearly 50% cut in police staff and the impacts, Chief Watson said officer initiated activities were reduced by the short staffing. Traffic citations were down by 30% because of the loss of seven officers.

Chief Watson called the current situation a “good trend with two consecutive years of double digit crime reductions.”

Part I Crime Totals for Last 10 Years:

Year Total

2004 430

2005 379

2006 364

2007 377

2008 427

2009 451

2010 331

2011 346

2012 307