Crime Statistics
This page includes statistics on crime in Palo Alto dating back for the past decade. Uniform Crime Reporting Part I Crime totals for Palo Alto from 2012 through 2021 appear below. Part I Crimes are those that occur with sufficient frequency to provide an adequate basis for comparison from year-to-year and across jurisdictions. Information on hate crimes appears below the tables of statistics.
Learn More About the Uniform Crime Reporting Program
The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program is run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The program generates reliable statistics for use in law enforcement, and also provides information for the public, the media, researchers, and criminal justice students. The program has been providing crime statistics since 1930.
The UCR Program includes data from more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, including local, county, state, tribal, federal, and campus agencies. Agencies participate voluntarily. Here in Palo Alto, we report monthly crime statistics to the California Department of Justice, which in turn, forwards the information to the UCR Program. The FBI then uses that information to publish their annual Uniform Crime Report; visit the UCR Publications website to download those reports.
For more information on the UCR Program, or to compare crime levels across jurisdictions, visit the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting website.
Statistics Requests
If you would like to request statistical information from our Crime Analysis Unit for specific locations in Palo Alto during a given time period, you can download the Statistics Request Form below. Once you complete the form, you can e-mail it to us at pd@cityofpaloalto.org, drop it off at the front desk of the police station during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), or send it to us via U.S. Mail at 275 Forest Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301.
We will notify you when your report is ready, and we will mail it to you or you can pick it up. Please note there is a $73.00 per hour fee charged for any research required to produce more in-depth or complicated statistical reports. Payment, if necessary, can be sent via mail or in person.
For more information on crime statistics, contact our Crime Analysis Unit at (650) 329-2536.
Download the Statistics Request Form(PDF, 62KB)
View Police Calls for Service Interactive Map
If you are searching for a basic snapshot of the types of calls to which our officers have responded in the past 24 hours (regardless of whether a crime report was taken or not), we have a new Police Calls for Service Interactive Map available here on our website.
View the Calls for Service Interactive Map
Palo Alto Crime Statistics, 2012-2021
| Crimes |
2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
2015 |
2014 |
2013 |
2012 |
| Homicide |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Rape |
5 |
12 |
10 |
6 |
11 |
10 |
13 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
| Robbery* |
41 |
39 |
46 |
30 |
39 |
28 |
26 |
26 |
30 |
26 |
| Assault** |
29 |
30 |
29 |
38 |
40 |
35 |
27 |
24 |
21 |
23 |
| Burglary Total |
179 |
243 |
179 |
234 |
215 |
221 |
212 |
273 |
242 |
332 |
| Larceny - Theft |
1,356 |
1,571 |
1,724 |
1,197 |
1,477 |
1,161 |
1,407 |
975 |
1,179 |
1,048 |
| Stolen Vehicles |
98 |
112 |
83 |
83 |
92 |
65 |
87 |
68 |
69 |
48 |
| Arson* |
30 |
22 |
8 |
9 |
6 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
10 |
12 |
| Totals |
1,738 |
2,030 |
2,080 |
1,597 |
1,880 |
1,529 |
1,778 |
1,374 |
1,555 |
1,494 |
*Includes attempts
**Does not include simple assaults
Calls for Service, Offenses, and Collisions, 2012-2021
| Year |
Calls for Service |
Offenses |
Collisions |
| 2021 |
38,189 |
4,588 |
523 |
| 2020 |
44,654 |
4,665 |
446 |
| 2019 |
51,417 |
5,611 |
836 |
| 2018 |
55,798 |
5,715 |
993 |
| 2017 |
54,926 |
5,938 |
952 |
| 2016 |
52,366 |
5,534 |
969 |
| 2015 |
58,243 |
6,729 |
1,025 |
| 2014 |
59,773 |
6,058 |
1,108 |
| 2013 |
65,861 |
5,764 |
1,173 |
| 2012 |
62,783 |
5,607 |
1,001 |
Hate Crime Statistics and Information
The Palo Alto Police Department stands ready to protect the rights of all individuals by preventing, investigating, and reporting hate crimes. The City of Palo Alto strongly denounces hate crimes of all kinds and encourages members of our community to promptly report these incidents by calling the Police Department's 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413, or 9-1-1 if it is an emergency.
Effective January 1, 2023, California Assembly Bill 485 (as codified in California Penal Code section 13023) directs law enforcement agencies to post information about hate crimes reported in their jurisdiction on their website on a monthly basis. Note that these numbers may be updated to reflect reports from the end of the month that are processed by our Records Unit in the subsequent month.
January 2023: 1
February 2023: 0
For more information on hate crimes: