Homicides in the Coachella Valley decrease in 2017

There were a total of 24 murders in the Coachella Valley in 2017. Some of those murders have never been solved. The good news is that the number of homicides in the desert has been declining for the past three years. Five of the nine Valley cities didn’t have any homicides.

“It’s not only murders that are down. It’s aggravated assaults, rapes and burglaries. More than anything, I just want to acknowledge the work of all of our community members,” said Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez.

Coachella, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, and La Quinta had no reported homicides in 2017.

There has been a downward trend in homicides over the past three years. There were 26 murders in 2015, 24 murders last year and 23 homicides in 2017.

Homicides by city:
Desert Hot Springs – 8
Indio – 4
Cathedral City – 3
Palm Springs – 4
Unincorporated areas of Riverside County – 5

Desert Hot Springs Police Chief Dale Mondary describes the results as disturbing and says in part:

“We had the largest drop in crime rate in the entire Valley last year. We will continue to work and enhance those efforts overall. However, I am concerned about the violent crime rate in our city and we are going to work with our community and law enforcement partners to develop on going strategies.”

Desert Hot Springs’ last homicide was an officer involved shooting earlier this week, stemming from a domestic disturbance call.

It’s the second officer involved homicide this year. The first was back in March in an unincorporated area of Riverside County. A Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy was put on administrative leave.