Reports of violent crime and property crime decreased last year, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told city leaders Tuesday at a public safety briefing.
According to the SAPD report, there has been a 2.4% decrease in violent crime, such as homicides and sex offenses, in 2024. And there was also a 7.7% decrease in crimes against property, which includes car thefts and arson.
Criminal mischief, destruction, damage or vandalism, is up 26%, and arrests for “crimes against society,” which include drug or narcotic cases and animal cruelty cases, are up 1.5%.
McManus said officer response times for emergency calls have improved by 24 seconds and non-emergency calls have improved by 2 seconds. In 2024, SAPD received 2.2 million calls and responded to 1.8 million of them.
McManus said enforcement and working with the community helped improve crime statistics.
But although the numbers show major crime is down, it may not feel like it for people living in different parts of town, said District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete-Gavito, who serves on the city’s Public Safety Committee.
“In some neighborhoods, it feels like violent crime is up,” she said.
According to a UTSA Bexar County Voter Panel Study published in November, voters identified crime and safety as the most important problem Bexar County faces today.
Recently, residents have been concerned about safety on San Antonio’s Greenway Trail System after a slew of violent crimes including murder and arson.
McManus said the incidents have been isolated, and is not aware of a pattern of crime on the trails, which is policed by park police and SAPD.
“Those cases are turned over to our detectives, and our detectives work them until we clear them,” he said.
But one issue with reporting crime incidents on the trails is that the city’s community crime map only displays data by ZIP code and does not specify if a crime happened on a trail. There are more than 100 miles of trails across the city.
“The problem with those trails is that there’s not an address on the trail, that’s where there’s a breakdown on getting specific data,” said SAPD Spokeswoman Michelle Ramos.
McManus said regardless, SAPD is still able to detect crime trends in specific areas to address crime reports and if there was a pattern on the trails, it would be addressed.
“Most people are not affected by violent crime. They’re affected by property crime, and that’s what I hear at the community meetings,” McManus said. “They’re angry about the quality of life in their neighborhoods that is denigrated by property crime.”
In the last few years, city council has approved adding more officers to have more availability to respond to calls, said Maria Villagomez, assistant city manager, who was also at the public safety briefing.
But SAPD can’t attribute crime stat improvements to an increase in officers — yet.
Two budget seasons ago, council members approved adding officers. McManus said 117 of those cadets are just starting to graduate from the police academy and will soon begin patrolling the streets.
An additional 65 patrol officers were added from the last budget session.
McManus said SAPD’s violent crime reduction program includes place-based policing, which means having police presence in certain areas.
But the police department is not solely responsible for public safety, the chief said; if someone who has been arrested for an offense is released pre-trial, and reoffends upon release again, it’s difficult to to reduce the crime.
“Crime is down, workload is up,” McManus said.
