TO: ADAM PIRRIE, CITY MANAGER
FROM: MIKE CISZEK, POLICE CHIEF
DATE: MAY 26, 2026
Reviewed by:
City Manager: AP
SUBJECT:
Title
TRAFFIC COLLISION DATA FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2025 AND CALIFORNIA INCIDENT-BASED REPORTING SYSTEM (CIBRS) “GROUP A” CRIME DATA (FUNDING SOURCE: GENERAL FUND)
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SUMMARY
The Municipal Code requires that the Police Department provide traffic collision data to the City Council each year. The goal of this report is to not only meet the Municipal Code’s traffic collision reporting requirements, but to also provide the community with a snapshot of crime trends the Police Department has responded to.
Traffic Collision Data for calendar year 2025 reported 87 non-injury collisions and 134 injury collisions including three fatalities for a total of 224 total collisions. In comparison to 2024, there were 22 more collisions reported in 2025, representing an increase of 11 percent. Calendar Year 2025 Collision Statistics are included as Attachment A.
The Claremont Police Department participates in the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program providing criminal offense data to the State. The previous UCR system divided crimes into Part I and Part II crimes. Part I crimes include homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft, auto theft, and arson. Part II crimes are all other crimes.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) requested that all States transition to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) by April of 2022. The Claremont Police Department now provides crime data monthly to the California Department of Justice/California Incident-Based Reporting Systems (CIBRS), which in turn submits the data to the FBI.
The new CIBRS criteria gather more information than previous UCR data. Previously, the UCR system would only capture the most serious crime class, even if there were multiple crimes occurring within the same incident. CIBRS captures up to ten (10) crimes associated with an incident, therefore, crime numbers may appear to be increasing, when in reality, they are capturing more detailed information. CIBRS categorizes crime data into “Group A” and “Group B” data sets.
“Group A” crime data includes Murder, Negligent Manslaughter, Justifiable Homicide, Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Larceny, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson, Simple Assault, Intimidation, Bribery, Counterfeiting/Forgery, Vandalism, Drug/Narcotic Violations, Drug Equipment Violations, Embezzlement, Extortion/Blackmail, Fraud, Gambling, Kidnapping, Pornography, Prostitution, Sodomy, Sexual Assault with Object, Fondling, Incest, Statutory Rape, Stolen Property, Weapons Law Violations, Human Trafficking - Commercial Sex Acts, Human Trafficking - Involuntary Servitude, and Animal Cruelty.
“Group B” crime data includes arrests associated with Bad Checks, Curfew/Vagrancy, Disorderly Conduct, DUI, Drunkenness, Family Offenses-Nonviolent, Liquor Law Violations, Peeping Tom, Runaways, Trespass, and All Other Offenses.
This data is available on the California Department of Justice (DOJ) (current year) and Federal Bureau of Investigation websites (one year delayed). The Police Department utilizes this data to track crime trends and incidents of crime, to better manage resources. The crime information is also provided to patrol officers so they can concentrate their efforts in areas of criminal activity within assigned patrol beats.
The Department has not provided the City Council, Police Commission, nor the community with an overview of the criminal offenses that were reported since 2021. Since the Claremont Police Department’s CIBRS data was incomplete for 2022, this report will provide “Group A” crime statistics for calendar years 2023, 2024 and 2025 (Attachment B).
• 2023 “Group A” crimes reported were 1,825.
• 2024 “Group A” crimes reported were 1,527 with a 11.28 percent reduction in Crimes against Persons, a 16.02 percent reduction in Crimes Against Property and a 20.91 percent reduction in Crimes Against Society as compared to 2023.
• 2025 “Group A” Crimes reported were 1,389 with a 14.41 percent reduction in Crimes against Persons, a 14.66 percent reduction in Crimes Against Property and a 14.24 percent increase in Crimes Against Society (337 in 2025 as compared to 295 in 2024) as compared to 2024.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends the City Council receive and file the Traffic Collision data for Calendar Year 2025 and the California Incident-Based Reporting System “Group A” crime data.
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ALTERNATIVES TO RECOMMENDATION
In addition to the recommendation, there are the following alternatives:
A. Reject the staff recommendation.
B. Delay the staff recommendation and request additional information.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The staff cost to prepare this report and administer this project is estimated at $1,427 and is included in the operating budget of the Police Department.
ANALYSIS
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program is a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of more than 19,000 federal, state, county, city, university and college, and tribal law enforcement agencies (LEAs) voluntarily reporting data on offenses reported or known. Since 1930, the FBI has administered the UCR Program and continues to assess and monitor the nature and type of crime in the nation. The program’s primary objective is to generate reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management. However, over the years, UCR data have become one of the country’s leading social indicators. Criminologists, sociologists, legislators, municipal planners, the media, and other students of criminal justice use the data for varied research and planning purposes.
Originally, the FBI’s UCR Program was designed as a summary system to collect only the most serious offense within an incident. However, the Program began using incident-based reporting (i.e., NIBRS) in 1989 to capture all offenses within an incident-up to ten crime occurrences. Through NIBRS, LEAs report data on each offense and arrest within 28 offense categories made up of 71 specific crimes called Group A offenses. For each of the Group A offenses coming to their attention, the LE collects administrative, offense, property, victim, offender, and arrestee information. LEAs report only arrest data for an additional ten (10) Group B offense categories.
By design, LEAs generate NIBRS data as a by-product of their respective records management systems (RMS). Therefore, a LEA builds its system to suit its own individual needs, including all the information required for administration and operation, then forwards only the data required by NIBRS to the FBI’s UCR Program. As more agencies report via NIBRS, the data collected will provide a clearer assessment of the nation’s crime experience.
The Claremont Police Department participates in the California Incident-Based Reporting system, providing criminal offense data to the State since April of 2022. The State then provides the data for all participating agencies in California to the FBI, which is the designated national clearinghouse for crime data.
The California Incident-Based Reporting system (CIBRS) divides crimes into “Group A” and “Group B” crimes. “Group A” crime data includes Murder, Negligent Manslaughter, Justifiable Homicide, Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Larceny, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson, Simple Assault, Intimidation, Bribery, Counterfeiting/Forgery, Vandalism, Drug/Narcotic Violations, Drug Equipment Violations, Embezzlement, Extortion/Blackmail, Fraud, Gambling, Kidnapping, Pornography, Prostitution, Sodomy, Sexual Assault with Object, Fondling, Incest, Statutory Rape, Stolen Property, Weapons Law Violations, Human Trafficking - Commercial Sex Acts, Human Trafficking - Involuntary Servitude, and Animal Cruelty.
“Group B” crime data includes arrests associated with Bad Checks, Curfew/Vagrancy, Disorderly Conduct, DUI, Drunkenness, Family Offenses-Nonviolent, Liquor Law Violations, Peeping Tom, Runaways, Trespass, and All Other Offenses.
Each CIBRS offense belongs in one of three categories: Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Property, and Crimes Against Society. Crimes Against Persons, e.g., Murder, Rape, and Assault, are those offenses whose victims are always individuals. The object of Crimes Against Property, e.g., Robbery, Bribery, and Burglary, is to obtain money, property, or some other benefit. Crimes Against Society, e.g., Animal Cruelty, Drug Violations, Gambling, and Prostitution, represent society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity.
When news reports, government leaders, or law enforcement practitioners report on crime reductions or increases, they are generally referring to “Group A” crimes as a whole, or a grouping of crimes against persons (violent crimes), crimes against property or crimes against society.
Oftentimes, attempts are made to draw comparisons of crime data between cities of equal size, but this can lead to an incomplete analysis or misleading conclusions. There are several variables that can impact crime in particular jurisdictions including: population, “policing population” (residents, college students, commuters, shoppers, and tourists), economic conditions, modes of transportation, cultural conditions, and the effective strength of law enforcement agencies.
Crime statistics are one tool for local government leaders and law enforcement to look at local crime trends and patterns to identify where resources need to be directed or redirected, as well as identifying if additional resources are needed. They are also a part of the bigger picture on whether law enforcement operations and partnerships with the community are effective.
The Police Department is providing the City Council, Police Commission, and the community with an overview of the criminal offenses that were reported for calendar years 2023, 2024 and 2025, since calendar year 2022 had incomplete data (April - December).
In 2025, a total of 1,389 “Group A” were reported compared to 1,527 reported in 2024 and 1,825 in 2023.
In 2025, “Group A” Crimes reported had a 14.41 percent reduction in Crimes against Persons, a 14.66 percent reduction in Crimes Against Property and a 14.24 percent increase in Crimes Against Society (337 in 2025 as compared to 295 in 2024) as compared to 2024.
In 2024 “Group A” crimes had an 11.28 percent reduction in Crimes against Persons, a 16.02 percent reduction in Crimes Against Property and a 20.91 percent reduction in Crimes Against Society as compared to 2023.
When looking at percentage increases or decreases, it is important to recognize that Claremont’s overall low crime rate lends itself to what can appear to be very dramatic increases or decreases in crime. As reported above, there was a 14.24 percent increase in Crimes Against Society which translated into an increase of 42 more police reports generated for that category.
Most of Claremont’s crime has always been property related crime. The year 2025 was no different with Crimes Against Property crime accounting for 61 percent of the “Group A” crimes reported. Fifteen percent of “Group A” crimes were related to Crimes Against Persons and 24 percent were related to Crimes Against Society.
There was a decrease in burglaries in 2023 from 145 to 77 in 2024 and 63 burglaries in 2025.
The Police Department uses a variety of methods to identify and impact crime trends including redirecting patrol coverage, multi-agency task forces, grant related enforcement details and public outreach.
The Police Department will continue to work in partnership with the community in crime prevention and reduction, and the community is encouraged to be part of increasing public safety by reporting suspicious activity immediately.
RELATIONSHIP TO CITY PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Staff has evaluated the agenda item in relationship to the City’s strategic and visioning documents and finds that it applies to the following City Planning Documents: Council Priorities, General Plan, and the 2024-26 Budget.
CEQA REVIEW
This item is not subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
The agenda and staff report for this item have been posted on the City website and distributed to interested parties. If you desire a copy, please contact the City Clerk’s Office.
Submitted by:
Michael Ciszek
Police Chief
Attachments:
A - Calendar Year 2025 Collision Statistics
B - California Department of Justice Offense and Arrest Summary Reports for 2023, 2024 and 2025