Who polices Laguna Niguel
Laguna Niguel has no city police department. It buys its policing from the Orange County Sheriff's Department, and the deputies assigned to the city work as Laguna Niguel Police Services. The sheriff's patrol area page says Captain Isaac Flores serves as Chief of Police Services and supervises 46 employees, including deputies, sergeants, investigators, community services officers and a crime prevention specialist. The contract covers patrol, traffic enforcement, collision investigation, parking enforcement and investigations.
Useful numbers from the city and the sheriff: Laguna Niguel Police Services at 949-362-4346, and the sheriff's non-emergency dispatch at 949-770-6011 or 714-647-7000. Call 911 for emergencies. The city also runs Neighborhood Watch, Business Watch and a citizen's academy through the sheriff.
For the data, what matters is that the DOJ treats Laguna Niguel as its own reporting agency. Its counts cover crimes within the city limits only. Neighboring areas such as Monarch Beach, which was left out when Laguna Niguel incorporated in 1989 and is now part of Dana Point, are counted under their own city.
Laguna Niguel crime by year: California DOJ figures
Every law enforcement agency in California reports crimes to the state, and the DOJ publishes them on OpenJustice in its Crimes and Clearances file. The edition released in July 2026 runs from 1985 to 2025. These are Laguna Niguel's counts for the last ten reported years, with burglaries split into homes and other buildings.
| Year | Violent crimes | Aggravated assaults | Robberies | Property crimes | Home burglaries | Other burglaries | Vehicle thefts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 65 | 34 | 22 | 751 | 89 | 35 | 60 |
| 2017 | 54 | 35 | 11 | 573 | 57 | 38 | 50 |
| 2018 | 81 | 58 | 21 | 640 | 71 | 33 | 56 |
| 2019 | 43 | 21 | 12 | 607 | 67 | 38 | 39 |
| 2020 | 41 | 25 | 10 | 579 | 39 | 34 | 52 |
| 2021 | 41 | 26 | 12 | 576 | 37 | 49 | 46 |
| 2022 | 62 | 45 | 13 | 673 | 55 | 47 | 77 |
| 2023 | 66 | 40 | 25 | 625 | 56 | 26 | 81 |
| 2024 | 78 | 55 | 17 | 564 | 44 | 50 | 62 |
| 2025 | 72 | 60 | 6 | 410 | 23 | 14 | 31 |
Three patterns stand out. Property crime peaked at 751 in 2016, moved between 564 and 673 from 2017 to 2024, and fell to 410 in 2025, the lowest year in the table. Home burglaries fell from 89 in 2016 to 23 in 2025, about a quarter of the 2016 level. Violent crime, which is mostly aggravated assault, has gone the other way since 2021, rising from 41 to 78 in 2024 before easing to 72 in 2025; aggravated assaults reached 60 in 2025, above the 2018 high of 58. In a city of about 64,000 people, a change of 10 or 20 incidents moves the total a lot, so read the trend over several years.
Laguna Niguel crime compared with nearby South County cities
A count is only fair between cities of similar size, so this table converts each city's 2025 DOJ counts into crimes per 1,000 residents, using the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey population. All eight cities contract with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, so the reporting practices are similar.
| City (2025) | Population (ACS 2020-2024) | Violent crimes per 1,000 | Property crimes per 1,000 | Burglaries per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laguna Niguel | 64,139 | 1.1 | 6.4 | 0.58 |
| Aliso Viejo | 51,113 | 1.2 | 6.0 | 0.47 |
| Dana Point | 32,790 | 1.6 | 8.4 | 1.13 |
| Laguna Hills | 30,740 | 2.1 | 8.3 | 1.17 |
| Mission Viejo | 92,151 | 1.2 | 8.5 | 0.62 |
| Rancho Santa Margarita | 46,990 | 1.1 | 4.4 | 0.36 |
| Lake Forest | 86,281 | 1.7 | 7.0 | 1.00 |
| San Juan Capistrano | 35,095 | 1.7 | 7.2 | 1.25 |
Does Laguna Niguel have the lowest crime rate in Orange County?
The city's police services page says Laguna Niguel has a reputation as one of the safest cities in Orange County with a history of the lowest crime rates in the county. The 2025 DOJ figures put it in the low group but not alone at the bottom. Rancho Santa Margarita had slightly lower violent and property rates, and Aliso Viejo a lower property rate. Laguna Niguel's burglary rate, 0.58 per 1,000, was the third lowest in the table, behind Rancho Santa Margarita and Aliso Viejo. These are one-year figures from small numbers, so a few dozen incidents can reorder the table.
Laguna Niguel against the county and state
For a wider comparison, OpenJustice lets you chart Orange County and statewide totals against Laguna Niguel over any period back to 1985. Use rates, not counts, and use the same years for each place.
What crime in Laguna Niguel is made of
Theft from stores and cars in Laguna Niguel
Of the 342 larceny-thefts reported in 2025, the DOJ breakdown shows 137 shoplifting cases and 79 thefts from vehicles, which together make up nearly two thirds. The rest were 46 thefts from buildings, 33 thefts of vehicle parts and accessories, 2 pickpocketing cases, 2 bicycle thefts, 2 purse-snatchings and 41 in the catch-all category. Laguna Niguel Police Services runs a "Lock It Up Every Time" campaign because, in its words, residential and vehicle thefts and burglaries are among the highest types of crime in the city.
Burglary in Laguna Niguel homes and businesses
Of 37 burglaries in 2025, 23 were of homes and 14 of shops, offices and other buildings. The 2025 home figure was the lowest of the decade, below the 37 of 2021. Vehicle thefts were 31, down from 62 in 2024.
Violent crime in Laguna Niguel
The 72 violent crimes in 2025 were 60 aggravated assaults, 6 robberies and 6 rapes. There were no homicides in 2025; since 2016 the city has had one in each of 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2022. The DOJ figures do not say whether victims and offenders knew each other, so they cannot tell you how much of the assault count involves strangers.
Clearance rates for Laguna Niguel crimes
A crime is cleared when someone is arrested and charged or the case is closed for another accepted reason. In 2025 the DOJ shows 46 of 72 violent crimes cleared, about 64%, and 71 of 410 property crimes, about 17%. Burglary clearances were 11 of 37 and vehicle theft clearances 1 of 31. For a homeowner, that makes prevention and insurance more useful than the odds of an arrest.
How to check crime near a Laguna Niguel address
No official source publishes Laguna Niguel crime by neighborhood or gated community, so we do not rank them. These tools let you look at the streets around one home.
California DOJ OpenJustice for Laguna Niguel
Pick Laguna Niguel as the agency on OpenJustice to see crimes, clearances, arrests and arson by year from 1985. It is the most consistent long series but covers the whole city, one calendar year at a time.
Sheriff's crime map for Laguna Niguel
The sheriff's Laguna Niguel patrol area page links to a crime map for the city on CrimeMapping.com. It plots recent reported incidents by approximate location and type. Look at several months, not one week, and remember that a shopping center will always show more theft than the homes behind it.
FBI Crime Data Explorer
The FBI Crime Data Explorer carries the same agency's reports to the national program. It is useful for comparing with cities in other states, but its categories and timing differ from the DOJ file, so do not mix figures from the two in one comparison.
Megan's Law search
The DOJ's Megan's Law website lets you search registered sex offenders by address or ZIP code 92677. For what sellers must tell you about a property, see our seller disclosure guide.
Laguna Niguel P.R.E.P. app for evacuation zones
The city's Preparedness, Response and Emergency Planning (P.R.E.P.) app lets you enter an address to find its evacuation zone and links to the city's emergency alerts. It answers a different safety question from crime, but it is the city's own address tool and worth checking for any home you consider.
Fire, landslide and storm risk in Laguna Niguel
For a home purchase, natural hazards can cost more than crime. On June 3, 2025 the City Council adopted the state's updated fire hazard severity zone map for Laguna Niguel. Homes in a zone must keep defensible space, new buildings must meet the fire-resistant construction rules in Chapter 7A of the California Building Code, and sellers must disclose the zone. The Orange County Fire Authority offers defensible space inspections. Our California wildfire zones guide explains each zone and our homeowners insurance guide covers what a zone does to premiums.
Slopes are the second check. In March 1998 the Via Estoril landslide destroyed 41 homes on Crown Valley Parkway, a site only now being rebuilt, and in 2025 the city approved remedial grading at a hillside home in Bear Brand Ranch. Ask for any geotechnical reports and check the natural hazard disclosure. The city's emergency preparedness page cites a NOAA estimate of a greater than 90 percent chance of a very strong El Niño this fall and winter, and the city hands out free sandbags at Crown Valley Community Center and Chapparosa Park when heavy rain is forecast. For flood zones, search the address on FEMA's flood map, and for earthquake cover see our earthquake insurance guide. Cal OES's MyHazards tool shows several hazards for one address.
Checks before you buy or rent in Laguna Niguel
- Read at least five years of Laguna Niguel's DOJ counts, not just 2025.
- Confirm the address is inside the city limits: a Laguna Niguel or Dana Point mailing address does not always match the city on the tax bill.
- Look at the sheriff's crime map around the street over three to six months.
- Search the address on the Megan's Law site.
- In a gated community, ask the HOA what it pays for in guards, gates or patrols and what incidents it has logged.
- Check the fire hazard zone, evacuation zone, flood zone and any landslide history.
- Get insurance quotes before you remove contingencies.
For the wider picture, see is Laguna Niguel a good place to live, Laguna Niguel neighborhoods and our Laguna Niguel homes guide.