Diamond Bar officials cite drop in property crime, warn small-number spike in violent incidents

Assistant City Manager Ryan McLean told the Diamond Bar City Council on May 5 that the city's 2025 public safety report shows a roughly 9% year-over-year decline in total Part 1 crime and an almost 12% drop in property crime, while burglaries fell about 9.9%.

"Total Part 1 crime was down about 9% year over year," McLean said. He noted that the city recorded a comparatively large percentage increase in violent crime (about 58%), but that the change represented just 22 additional incidents and therefore reflects a small baseline.

Why it matters: law-enforcement costs are the largest line item in the city budget, McLean said, pointing to an $8.6 million contract for sheriff services that supports 16 sworn deputies in Diamond Bar. The report also summarizes fire and EMS services provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department and animal-care statistics; McLean said the city is consolidating these materials onto the public safety page of the city website for ongoing access.

The presentation included operational context: McLean said more than 70% of all fire-department calls are for emergency medical or rescue services, and that the city maintains three county-staffed fire stations with roughly 40 personnel assigned in the area. On law enforcement, McLean said the city contract funds 16 sworn deputies, plus one non-sworn Community Services Assistant focused on parking enforcement and five special-assignment deputies used as a flexible response team.

Captain Tauzy of the Sheriff's Department clarified how violent crimes are categorized and described several enforcement successes. "Robbery is the taking from a person. Your house was burglarized," the captain said, correcting a common usage error to distinguish burglary from robbery. He detailed a recent arrest of a regional burglary crew aided by Flock camera footage and described a safe-exchange area at the local sheriff station for people meeting to complete online sales.

Council members pressed staff for additional detail about the violent-crime increase. One council member asked whether incident reports include information about suspects' mental health; McLean said that is not part of the city's posted statistics but that he could ask the captain or sheriff's team for context and bring any available information back to council.

The presentation noted short-term trends into 2026: McLean said first-quarter 2026 Part 1 crime was down about 30.3% compared with the first quarter of 2025 and that the city recently recorded its lowest total Part 1 crime month in six years. McLean cautioned that low absolute numbers for violent crime can make percentage changes appear large and asked residents to report suspicious activity to support ongoing crime reduction.

Next steps: McLean said the full data digest and historical statistics are posted on the city's website and that staff will follow up with the sheriff on requested clarifications.