There was more violent crime in Ceres last year when compared to the year before with a noticeable increase in forcible rapes, assaults and robberies when compared to the prior year.

The annual crime report offered by the Ceres Police Department showed an increase in burglaries but a drop in car thefts.

The annual report is in part a yearly accounting of Part One crimes reported within the city limits. Part One crimes include homicides, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larcenies and auto thefts.

The homicide rate remained the same in 2018 with one death investigated by the Ceres Police Department. The year prior saw the same number. In 2016 Ceres Police investigated one homicide.

In 2018, there were 29 rapes reported in Ceres, which is an increase of 61.1 percent from the year prior. Rapes reported to the Ceres Police Department have been increasing since 2016, when 11 were reported, followed by 18 in 2017.

Robberies saw an increase in 2018 of 7.1 percent. In 2018, there were 75 robberies, compared to 70 reported in 2017. Ceres Police took reports on 66 robberies in 2016.

Ceres recorded 331 aggravated assaults in 2018, up 3.7 percent from 2017, when the department reported 319. The 2018 rate was higher than the 280 assaults reported in 2016.

The rate of burglaries increased by 15.1 percent in 2018, when the police department responded to 326 cases, compared to the 283 reported in 2017. Burglaries have been increasing in Ceres since 2016, when it reached 278.

The city saw 338 reported auto thefts, which were down by 5.5 percent from the 358 reported in 2017.

Patrol officers had 25,204 dispatched calls and 11,030 self-initiated calls in 2018. 

The department recorded 1,703 arrests in 2018 and made 97 DUI arrests.

In 2018, Ceres Police dispatchers received 108,434 incoming calls. Of those, 24,239 were emergency 911 calls, for an average of 66 per day.