Public Safety Prioritized in Rancho Mirage [Opinion]

‘The Rancho Mirage City Council will continue to be laser focused on public safety.’ — Steve Downs. [Opinion]

Public Safety is Job One for any city council.  In Rancho Mirage, we take this responsibility seriously and we intend to do all we can to provide Rancho Mirage residents with the best possible law enforcement, fire protection, and emergency medical services.

In past years, it was typical for the property crime rate in Rancho Mirage to be slightly higher than the average for the Coachella Valley.  The reasons for this:

• Median household income in Rancho Mirage is higher than the average for the Coachella Valley – some 50% higher.
• Median home value is also higher – some 30% higher.
• As Rancho Mirage is a desirable place to live, we have a high number of 2nd homes.

This means that we have a number of expensive homes filled with expensive things that sit unoccupied for large stretches of time.  This also means that, for a burglar, we are a target rich environment.

There are a couple of things that make sense to do to resolve the issues of a slightly higher than average property crime rate and a target rich environment:

• Field as many Sheriff’s Deputies as the budget will allow.
• Provide those Deputies with the tools they need to do the job.

Several years ago, the Rancho Mirage city council began taking exactly those measures.  First, the City Council increased the ratio of deputies per 1,000 population to just over 2 per 1,000.  This compares to the ratio for all of Riverside County which is 1.15 per thousand.  Second, we made a significant increase in the primary tool that our law enforcement team tells us is critical in solving property crimes – automated license plate readers.  The Council has authorized an increase to about 100 readers city-wide from about 20 readers a couple of years ago.  This remarkable tool has allowed the Rancho Mirage Special Enforcement Team to catch suspects sometimes on the same day the crime was committed.  In at least one case, a stolen vehicles was returned to the rightful owners on the same day of the theft.

Here’s how the strategy of more deputies and better tools has worked.  The Rancho Mirage property crime rate has decreased every year since 2021.  Down 13% 2021 to 2022.  Down 15% 2022 to 2023.  Down 27% 2023 to 2024.  Down a remarkable 39% from the 1st 5 months of 2024 to the 1st 5 of 2025.

Another important measure of law enforcement success is the “clearance rate” – the number of property crime cases that resulted in identification and arrest of a suspect.  The most recent “clearance rate” data for Rancho Mirage is from 2023 – the rate was 57%.  The most recent nationwide data for the clearance rate in the US is from 2022 – the rate was 12.1%.

The bottom line is that Rancho Mirage residents can feel safe in our city with a high ratio of Deputies per 1000 residents – an important set of tools that helps those Deputies do their jobs – a well trained and dedicated Special Enforcement Team that clears cases at a rate of almost 5 times better than the national average.

The Rancho Mirage City Council will continue to be laser focused on public safety.  We will continue to work with our Special Enforcement Teams to provide them with the tools that make our city safe.