Santa Barbara Police Department Not Alarmed by Violent Crime Numbers, but Remains Vigilant

In light of the two shootings at Bohnett Park this year, the Independent requested violent crime data from the Santa Barbara Police Department. According to that data, over the past year, just 1.4 percent of violent crime has been gang-related in the City of Santa Barbara.

Since July 1, 2025, there have been 1,569 instances of violent crime — ranging from a fist fight to murder and rape — in Santa Barbara, and 22 of those incidents have been confirmed to be gang-related.

Commander Nathan Beltran said that the number of gang-related incidents is “not alarming” and that typically, this kind of crime comes in waves. “Sometimes it seems like a bigger wave because of the significance of some of the individual crimes themselves,” he said. 

SBPD statistics from July 1, 2025 to June 29, 2026.

The most recent Bohnett Park shooting on June 17 and the June 28 stabbing on Milpas Street have not yet been determined to be gang-related, and SBPD does not have any suspects in custody, according to Commander Beltran. 

“It could be [gang-related],” he said. But, “we haven’t obtained enough evidence to officially say that it is yet.”

Police Chief Kelly Gordon said “we’ve made multiple arrests connected to recent violent crime cases,” referencing the three teenagers arrested in early June who were allegedly implicated in the February Bohnett Park shooting that left 29-year-old Luis Terrazas dead.

SBPD confirmed that Terrazas’s homicide has been determined to be gang-related and is reflected in the violent crime statistics provided.  

According to Chief Gordon, SBPD teams have increased their presence in the neighborhoods surrounding Bohnett Park and other areas where they have seen an uptick in gang-related crime. 

SBPD has made some arrests on smaller-scale incidents, like weapons possession, that involved some known gang members, according to Commander Beltran. “Even if it’s a smaller crime, we still put resources in certain locations to address those crimes and prevent them from continuing to happen,” he said. 

Police have been removing gang-affiliated graffiti tags that pop up around town quickly, “which helps reduce retaliatory tagging and improves visibility for ongoing investigations,” according to Chief Gordon. 

“Any little bit of increase that we see, we put things in place to address them as best as we can,” said Commander Beltran.