New data from the San Antonio Police Department shows an overall decline in crime of 6.1% during the first nine months of 2026 compared to the same period last year, while homicides have fallen 36.5%.
SAPD reported 98,363 offenses between January and September, down from 104,760 offenses recorded during the same period in 2025. The decline was largely driven by a 10% reduction in property crimes, including motor vehicle theft, burglary and robbery.
While the numbers are down overall, crimes against people increased by 1.5%, including a rise in assaults, human trafficking and kidnapping or abduction offenses reported by SAPD.
Assaults rose 2.2%, with 22,950 reported offenses compared to 22,454 last year.
Human trafficking offenses saw a sharp increase of 41.7%, with 17 reported cases compared to 12 in 2025. Kidnapping and abduction offenses saw an even larger jump of 57.5%, with 63 reported cases compared to 40 last year.
But SAPD Chief Jesse Salame told the City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday that the increases in human trafficking and kidnapping offenses were largely attributable to the department’s participation in a multiagency law enforcement operation earlier this year.
Operation Lightning Bug II, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Marshals Service and other local, state and federal agencies in August, located 45 missing and endangered children considered at heightened risk of violence or exploitation.
The operation also resulted in the execution of 20 warrants and seven arrests on new charges, while generating additional human trafficking investigations for SAPD.
Salame said some of the recoveries resulted in new human trafficking and kidnapping offense reports, contributing to the increases reflected in the department’s statistics.
“It’s not that there was an increase necessarily in reporting, it was an increase in our activity to go out and find these individuals and charge those folks that were exploiting them,” Salame said.
Salame also attributed an increase in crimes against society to proactive police enforcement, rather than necessarily an increase in criminal activity.
Drug and narcotics offenses accounted for much of that increase, rising 2.9% from 9,274 to 9,540, while offenses involving pornography and obscene material increased 7.9%, from 517 to 558.
While certain offenses increased, San Antonio continued to see a sharp decline in homicides, reflecting a broader trend across major U.S. cities.
SAPD reported 80 homicides through September, down from 126 during the same period in 2025, a 36.5% decrease.
Salame said the department’s proactive efforts to arrest individuals involved in shootings and other violent crimes may be contributing to the decline, though he acknowledged that homicides are also falling nationally.
“All the major cities have experienced a significant decrease in homicides. I don’t want to jinx it, but you know one is too many,” he said. “But we are looking at being under 100 homicides for the first time, and I can’t remember the last time that happened.”
SAPD last recorded fewer than 100 murders in 2015, when the department reported 94.
The decline continues a trend documented earlier this year by the Council on Criminal Justice, which found that San Antonio’s homicide rate had fallen 12% below pre-pandemic levels during the first half of 2026.
The city has also reported reductions in violent crime within areas targeted by SAPD’s hotspot policing strategy, which concentrates officers in locations experiencing higher levels of criminal activity.
Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) pointed to those reductions during Tuesday’s meeting, renewing his criticism of the city’s decision not to fund additional patrol positions in its fiscal year 2027 budget.
Salame said SAPD has continued to see sustained reductions in violent and property crimes in targeted areas with existing staffing levels.
“Our officers are still responding to calls. Our call response time is still at its lowest rate that it’s been,” Salame said. “We’re getting the job done with what we have.”
