At Tuesday’s meeting of the Yucca Valley Town Council, Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Captain Luke Niles gave a brief overview of crime trends in the Morongo Basin in the time of COVID-19. Managing editor Tami Roleff hits the highlights, and the lowlights, of crime trends…
“Property crimes in general have declined significantly.”
While Sheriff’s Captain Luke Niles said that calls for service are up slightly (about 100 more calls per month), some reports of crimes have declined.
“Disturbingly, of great concern is reports related to suspected child abuse are down significantly. I would love to think that that means that perhaps that children that once were in danger aren’t, but the reality is that in most likelihood is that children have been removed from mandated reporters. Only time will tell.”
And other crimes have increased.
“Domestic violence-type issues and calls for serves and subsequent arrests are on the rise, county-wide, and no change to the town of Yucca Valley.”
But Niles stressed that since the Sheriff’s Department compiles the statistics only once a year—and this isn’t the time of year it’s done—he doesn’t have any definitive answers to how COVID-19 is affecting crime in the Morongo Basin.
