Shoplifting leads the way as Concord chief details 2023 crime

CONCORD, CA (April 22, 2024) – In a surprise to no one, Police Chief Mark Bustillos reported an increase in shoplifting, burglaries and stolen vehicles during his annual report to the City Council on April 9.

From 2022 to ’23, shoplifting increased by a whopping 76 percent – ​​from 227 to 401. Burglaries/burglaries went from 500 to 528, and 203 robberies occurred, compared to 182. While thefts from motor vehicles actually showed a decline From 1,253 to 944, vehicle theft increased from 735 to 812.

In fact, most crime rates were up, but the chief attributed some of that to a change in reporting with the new National Information Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

“The gross numbers look bigger, but we count the number of incidents per event,” he said. ‘If I rob you with a firearm, punch you and drag you six meters, as NIBRS counts, that is a kidnapping, a robbery and an assault – there are three crimes. In the past, that would have been one crime.”

Looking at the numbers

There was a slight decrease in the number of murders, from 5 to 4. But the number of simple assaults increased by 28 percent, from 763 to 978.

“We have a population in Concord that doesn’t solve their problems with words – they solve them with violence,” Bustillos said. “But we don’t have many random attacks. We have very few events where it is a stranger attacking another person.”

Aggravated assaults fell by 30%, with the chief noting that 9% involved attacks on law enforcement, but only 0.2% were gang-related.

Meanwhile, kidnapping/abduction cases have risen from 38 to 59. That number includes “any time you forcibly move someone against their will,” the chief said, adding that many are related to domestic violence.

Bustillos told the council his department is taking more guns off the streets — 381 compared to 293 the year before.

For the first time, the chief reported on the use of force by officers and said he thought it was “super important” to bring attention.

“The numbers speak for themselves: we use violence less than 1 percent of the time.”

More good news

Bustillos listed some of the department’s “research victories” in 2023, including:

• Solving a 2021 murder through phone records, license plate readers (LPRs) and DNA technology.
• Participate in a multi-agency investigation into organized retail thefts totaling $650,000. “It led to an apartment that looked like Costco: diapers on the left, razors there.”
• Arrest for a murder related to a fentanyl overdose.

The department’s partnership with the province’s A3 (Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime) mental health response team is another source of pride for the chief. In 2003 there were 300 A3 calls, with A3 only responding to 80. Both A3 and a Concord officer responded to 47 calls.

“Any time we divert sworn personnel from these types of calls, we can move onto the higher priority calls and get to our quality of life calls,” Bustillos said. “So it gives us more capacity.”

The A3 calls came from all over the city. “It doesn’t matter what income bracket you live in or where you live, mental health affects everyone,” he noted.

The chief pointed to enhancing public safety through the department’s use of drones, which assisted in 28 search and rescue missions and 338 law enforcement operations. LPRs and the Community Camera Registry also enhance the department’s ability to solve crimes.

Resources for residents include an interactive online map of reported crimes and the Concord Connect app, which is increasingly being used for non-urgent issues. “That’s 6,000 calls we don’t have to make,” Bustillos said.

On the wish list

Councilwoman Laura Hoffmeister asked the chief how he would improve the department if he “won the lottery.”

“It’s traffic, I don’t even have to think about it,” he replied. “I wouldn’t make it to half the meetings I would have to go to if I started running all the red lights.”

In response to Mayor Edi Birsan’s question about future technology needs, he spoke about improved drones that are now being tested.

“That would be a drone launched from the roof of the police station when you get an urgent call: shots fired, person down. The drone can respond faster than our officers and verify the call,” he said.

“The other area is really the philosophical question of how do you use the data that you can collect,” Bustillos added. “Because we are data-driven, we want to create a proof of concept that will help us do our work better.”

Bev Britton

Bev Britton graduated from the University of North Dakota with a degree in journalism and moved to the Bay Area with her husband-to-be Jim in 1986. She was editor-in-chief at the Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek before becoming editor-in-chief of the Contra Costa Sun in Lafayette in 1995. She retired from the newsroom in 2001, but an advertisement for the Clayton Pioneer drew her back in. The family moved to Lake Wildwood in the Gold Country a few years ago – but working at the Pioneer keeps her in touch with her old neighborhoods in Concord and Clayton.