The rate of serious crime in Ceres decreased between 2012 and 2013, even though forcible entry burglaries increased by 37.6 percent.

In Ceres the crime rate for all Part I crimes, which are considered the most significant and tracked through the Uniform Crime Reporting System, decreased by 15 percentage point over 2012's rate.

The Ceres Police Department's annual report shows there were 1,972 Part I crimes reported in 2013, 329 less than the 2,301 reported in 2012.

Violent crimes in Ceres fell 25 percent in 2013, according to the annual report. However, there was one homicide in 2013, compared to none in 2012. Forcible rapes saw a decrease from 15 in 2012 to nine in 2013. There were 41 robberies in 2013, down from 55 in 2012. Aggravated assaults came in at 201 in 2013, compared to 291 in 2012.

Property crimes were a mixed bag. For example, while forcible entry burglaries rose from 62 in 2012 to 165 in 2013, there was a significant decrease in burglaries where there was no force used. In 2013, Ceres police took reports on 185 unlawful entry burglary calls as compared to 331 in 2012.

Overall, larceny was down from 1,185 in 2012 to 1,078 in 2013. Ceres police cleared 346 of those 1,026 larceny cases, which means 66.3 percent of the cases were not solved in arrest.

Auto burglaries dropped from 333 in 2012 to 262 in 2013.

Shoplifting cases decreased from 441 in 2012 to 377 in 2013, a decrease of 12 percent.

Even thefts of motor vehicles were down. In 2012, Ceres police took 361 reports of car and pickup thefts. That number dropped to 339 last year. Police recovered 287 of the 335 vehicles stolen last year, or 85.6 percent.

The lone category that saw an increase was arson, which increased from 11 cases in 2012 to 14 cases in 2013, an increase of 27 percent.

The year 2013 was less violent for Ceres police officers as well. Police endure 19 cases of assault in 2012 as compared to 14 in 2013.