‘I have serious concerns about violence’ | Crime is on the rise in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO. Crime in the city of Alamo is on the rise.

On Tuesday, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus unveiled a new crime report to the public safety committee. It shows that crimes against people, property and society have increased in 2022 compared to the previous year.

McManus told city officials he was “strongly concerned” about the violence.

“In terms of homicides, we saw a pretty dramatic increase of 43%,” McManus said. “[There were] 231 murders in 2022.”

That number includes 53 migrants killed while trying to smuggle people last summer.

The report states that bickering and bickering were major contributing factors to the killings, followed by human trafficking.

“I will say that San Antonio remains a safe city,” McManus said. “Your chances of becoming the victim of a violent crime are astronomical if you live or behave in a high-risk environment. Whether you take your kids to school, go to the grocery store, go to work every day, or are just retired, then your chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime in San Antonio are very, very low.”

Sexual crimes have increased by 70%. However, McManus attributes much of this to the reclassification. In 2022, rape was first qualified as a sex crime.

Property crime experienced the biggest jump, mostly due to property theft, which increased by a whopping 215%.

“If we see property crime go down, it frees up officer resources,” said Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, a member of the public safety committee. “So, I think we should at least put in a substantial effort.”

The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) will conduct more “Point Police” this year. This means officers will patrol high crime areas to reduce illegal and violent activity.

“I would have missed most of this if I didn’t mention it, but I will tell you that the criminal justice system is out of sync right now,” McManus said. “So, I will stop there without going into details. But if the criminal justice system is not synchronized, we will just see these numbers repeat.”

In response, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzalez released the following statement:

“I agree that we need to focus on communities that are being seriously harmed. This means that we must all come together to implement solutions to prevent crime, such as seriously intervening in communities where gun violence occurs, literally cleaning the streets where crime thrives, and removing guns from our streets. Until we do that, we will fail the most vulnerable. I will use my second term to continue to fight for these decisions and will continue to work with law enforcement and other partners in the criminal justice system.”