How dangerous is downtown Sacramento? KCRA 3 Investigates tracks recent trends

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The city of Sacramento has been working to attract more people downtown ever since it was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some businesses worry people just don’t feel safe in the area.“Dear Sacramento, Downtown is dirty, dangerous and dead. In fact, I’ve never seen it so dirty, so dangerous or so dead,” JE Paino wrote in an open letter in November, which he posted outside his business.Paino owns the Ruhstaller BSMT, a taproom on K Street near 8th Street. He was moved to share his message after, he said, someone wandered in to use the restroom and then wouldn’t leave, harassing and even hitting his taproom manager.He expressed concern over how the city is handling problems with homelessness and crime.“The boldness of the actions of individuals is frightening,” Paino said.For a clearer picture of what violent crime in downtown looks like, KCRA 3 Investigates requested Sacramento police data on batteries and assaults in the area for the last five years. We combed through more than 1,600 cases, involving crimes ranging from battery on a civilian, assault with a deadly weapon or brandishing a weapon.App users, click here if you’re having trouble seeing the data visualization The data showed there was a slight dip in the number of batteries last year compared to the year before, but compared to pre-pandemic numbers, they are still high. The trend was similar for assaults reported downtown.“Obviously, we look at the numbers, and we go, ‘Okay, why did these numbers change?’” said Sacramento Police Officer Cody Tapley.He said part of it might be because the department started tracking crimes differently last year to align with FBI standards.“If there is an offense and, in that incident, there are multiple crimes that occur, you are now writing separate reports for each crime,” Tapley said.He said before November 2022, incidents involving multiple crimes were compiled into one report and logged based on the most severe charge.In addition, Tapley attributed the spike in 2022 to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.“With more people going out and about, there’s obviously more likelihood for crimes to occur,” he said. “There’s more people to report crimes occurring.”KCRA 3 Investigates also looked at where those crimes were occurring in 2023.Most were reported near Downtown Commons (DOCO), particularly at the 400 block of K Street. Other top spots included 9th and I Streets near City Hall and Cesar Chavez Plaza, along with 8th and J Streets near a 7-Eleven.“It’s just interesting to watch that be the one spot that like, you know, that there’s going to be police cars there every night,” Angelika Feldman said. “I know Takumi across the street decided to close their doors a lot of because of that, and same thing with the eyeglass place that’s over there.”Feldman opened Flora & Fauna Provisions in the area earlier this month.She said her business has surveillance cameras and 24/7 security. Plus, she said police are very responsive. Overall, Feldman said, she does feel safe, especially in the daytime.“We actually really love the environment downtown,” Feldman said.She noted that the Sacramento Kings playing at the Golden 1 Center has helped to bring more people downtown.“I think that it’s really started to revitalize the area,” Feldman said.“We are beginning now to recreate the momentum that we had prior to COVID, and it’s going to take a lot of work,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg.He said there are some hopeful signs of improvement, pointing to data Sacramento police released in October. Rather than focusing on a particular neighborhood in Sacramento, the data was citywide, showing an 18% drop in violent crime in the first nine months of 2023 compared with that timeframe the year before.“COVID, a once-in-a-century event, changed things but not forever,” Steinberg said.

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