Valley Unsolved Homicides On The Rise

I’s a statistic that no one is proud of. The Coachella Valley’s unsolved murders are trending up while California’s numbers are down.

In 2010, police across the Valley investigated a total of 22 homicides. Investigators still haven’t solved 8 of them.

So far in 2011, there have been 17 homicides valleywide. Nine of those remain unsolved.

Here’s how the numbers break down by city. Palms Springs in 2010 investigated 1 homicide. Officers made an arrest. This year, they’ve had two homicides, one of the victims was Cathedral City Police officer Jermaine Gibson. Police have arrested suspects in each of the homicides.

In 2010, three homicides happened in Cathedral City. It was solved. Out of all cities, Cathedral City so far has the most homicides this year with 5. Four of them are unsolved.

On the other side of the Valley, Indio had 4 homicides this year compared to 9 last year.

“They’re depending on law enforcement to solve these crimes,” said Indio Police officer Ben Guitron.

Desert Hot Springs this year has seen 2 homicides. Both of those crimes have been solved. Last year DHS had 3 total. One of them remain unsolved.

“We don’t have a crystal ball people are people and they’re going to do violent acts,” said Angel Ramos with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies who patrol unincorporated areas of Riverside County and cities contracted by the sheriff’s office investigated 4 homicides this year. Three remain unsolved. Last year that same are had 6 homicides. Of those six, three arent unsolved.

In 2009, the most recent data shows California’s homicide rate fell by 9%. Then, in 2010, the homicide rate in California dropped to a 44-year low. The number of unsolved homicides in the Coachella Valley already surpassed last years total by one and there’s still five months to go.