The agency has released preliminary crime statistics for 2010. They show property crimes were up 16%, largely because of a whopping 40% increase in car thefts. Police told Action News recently an average of 17 cars are stolen each day in Fresno.
Fresno's rate for violent crime increased 3.4% while the national numbers for violent crime and property crime went down.
There were some positive signs. The city's rape and robbery rates dropped in 2010. There was an 18.6% drop in rape cases and 5.9% drop in robberies.
The only other Central Valley city in the report is Visalia, where the results were mixed: violent crimes were down, but property crimes were up.
