Chandler records lowest crime rate in its history in the last year

PHOENIX — The city of Chandler experienced its lowest recorded crime rate in its history in a single year, according to recent data.

The report showed a 25% decrease in property crime and a 12% decrease in violent crimes from January to June, making June 2022-23 the lowest crime rate period ever recorded, the Chandler Police Department said.

Nearly all criminal offenses, including robbery, rape, theft and burglary, also decreased.

“When we look on the last 12 months, we have seen a crime rate which is a record low for the city of Chandler. The crime rate is the amount of those crimes per 1,000 people, so that rate has never been lower since we’ve been keeping record of that,” Police Chief Sean Duggan told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday.

The outliers were criminal homicide and arson. There were six criminal homicides reported in the first half of 2023, up from four the previous year — a 50% increase. Five arson incidents were reported during the same time in both years.

“Our crime-fighting strategy is working, but we must double down on our efforts to leverage technology to continue the downward trajectory,” Duggan said in a press release.

The crime-fighting strategy has been centered around earning trust from members of the community, concentrating on active “hotspots” through the use of technology, providing effective training, ensuring accountability and leveraging resources, training and expertise.

How will Chandler Police continue lowering crime rate?

For the police department, the recent feat was not easy and was, in part, a product of years of relationship-building with the community.

“The fact is, we are closing out on 300,000 people in Chandler. It’s not a small community by any means, and there’s just over 530 police employees,” Duggan said.

“We cannot keep a city of this size safe unless people are willing to work with us, so we have to convince them through earning their trust and their respect. They are interval to our success, so the relationship we have with the community is paramount.”

Duggan credited local and federal partnerships for providing resources that benefit Chandler’s crime-fighting strategy.

“We leverage resources from our federal partners. It gives us scope and training, and availability to use resources that we would not have if we were working in a single lane,” Duggan said.

Moving forward, members of the police department intend to continue learning, assessing and adjusting within their profession, Duggan said.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Colton Krolak contributed to this report.

Follow @KTAR923