The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has released the 2024 crime statistics for the communities it serves. Throughout the year, the Sheriff’s Office compiles information about crimes occurring within the areas served by our agency: the County’s unincorporated areas and the Contract Cities of Goleta, Carpinteria, Solvang and Buellton. For the purposes of tracking, reports are broken down into two major categories: Part 1 crimes, which are the most serious in nature, and Part 2 crimes, which include a number of lesser criminal offenses and some juvenile status offenses. Offense definitions can be found here.

In Goleta, crime statistics from 2023 to 2024 indicate an increase in overall crime. Reported Part 1 crimes increased from 533 incidents in 2023 to 602 in 2024, a 13% increase.

Violent crimes saw an increase, rising from 56 incidents in 2023 to 64 in 2024, a 14% increase. This includes a slight increase in aggravated assaults, which went from 37 incidents in 2023 to 44 in 2024, and in robberies, which increased from 12 to 15.

Property crimes also showed a slight increase, with totals rising from 477 incidents in 2023 to 538 in 2024, an increase of 13%. This category includes a decrease in motor vehicle thefts from 46 incidents in 2023 to 31 in 2024.

Read the full press release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office here.