Ripon Police Department’s 2013 crime report showed slight increases in some areas and minimal drops in others.

The population of the Ripon community at the end of last year was reported to be 14,606 up slightly from the previous year when the count was 14,535. The population matters as based on crimes per 1,000 residents, Ripon is one of the safest cities in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

Ripon is unique with high numbers of law enforcement officers living in the community from agencies to the north, south and into the Bay Area. There are working and retired CHP officers, FBI and CIA agents who call Ripon their home having searched out a safe place for their families to live. There are also numerous fire department staffers from other communities living within the city.

Forcible entry burglaries were at a total of 32 incidents compared with 2012 at 23. Unlawful entries were logged at 35 compared to 25 the previous year with no attempted burglaries reported.

In the category of motor vehicle thefts during the past year, Ripon officers responded to 15 calls for missing autos, having had only 13 taken in 2012. Three trucks had been reported stolen last year with two taken the year before.

There were no murder or manslaughter cases reported last year or for the scope of the study which goes back to 2004. There was one rape by force case in 2013 matching one in 2012. There were no robberies with use of a firearm in the past two years and only one with the use of a knife last year.

There were, however, four strong-arm robberies compared to one in 2012. One assault with a knife was reported with four added with the use of another dangerous weapon. Simple assaults for the past year were at 82, down from 103 in 2012.

There were 253 larceny reports in the community last year, up slightly from the 229 the year before in that category.