Who polices Whittier, and which addresses fall outside the city
The City of Whittier has its own police department, the Whittier Police Department (WPD). That matters because a Whittier mailing address does not always mean the city. Several unincorporated communities use Whittier ZIP codes, and they are policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) instead.
- City of Whittier: WPD. Its figures appear under "Whittier" in the state DOJ file used on this page.
- South Whittier and East Whittier (unincorporated): the Sheriff's Norwalk Station at 12335 Civic Center Drive, Norwalk, phone (562) 863-8711. LASD lists the station as serving Norwalk, La Mirada, South Unincorporated Whittier and East Unincorporated Whittier.
- Santa Fe Springs: a separate city that has bought police service from WPD under contract since October 1, 1995. Santa Fe Springs says it will launch its own police department on March 1, 2028. The DOJ reports Santa Fe Springs on its own row, so its crimes are not mixed into Whittier's totals.
Before you read any crime figure for a home, find out which of these areas the address is in. The county assessor's parcel record and the Census geocoder both show whether a parcel is inside city limits. A house on the South Whittier side of Leffingwell Road is covered by different statistics, and a different station, from a house a few blocks north inside the city. Our Whittier ZIP code guide shows how each ZIP splits between the city and the unincorporated areas.
Whittier crime by year: the DOJ figures
These counts come from the DOJ's Crimes and Clearances file, which runs through 2025. Violent crime is homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Property crime is burglary, motor vehicle theft and larceny-theft; arson is counted separately.
| Year | Violent crimes | Property crimes |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 239 | 2,247 |
| 2015 | 238 | 2,531 |
| 2016 | 258 | 2,790 |
| 2017 | 300 | 2,507 |
| 2018 | 233 | 2,225 |
| 2019 | 213 | 1,901 |
| 2020 | 237 | 1,634 |
| 2021 | 219 | 1,840 |
| 2022 | 249 | 1,696 |
| 2023 | 357 | 1,906 |
| 2024 | 408 | 1,976 |
| 2025 | 334 | 1,666 |
The 2025 violent total was 2 homicides, 14 rapes, 69 robberies and 249 aggravated assaults. Property crime was 226 burglaries, 291 vehicle thefts and 1,149 larceny-thefts, plus 12 arsons. Compared with 2019, Whittier's violent crimes rose 56.8% and property crimes fell 12.4%. Statewide over the same six years, violent crime fell 1.6% and property crime fell 22.9%, using the totals of every agency in the same file.
Most of Whittier's violent increase is aggravated assault, which went from 92 in 2019 to 260 in 2024 and 249 in 2025. Robberies were 93 in 2019, 119 in 2024 and 69 in 2025. On the property side, the long view looks different: the 2025 count of 1,666 is well below the 2,790 recorded in 2016, the highest year in the table, while vehicle thefts peaked at 483 in 2023 and fell to 291 in 2025.
How many Whittier crimes are solved: clearance rates
The same DOJ file counts crimes "cleared", usually by an arrest. For Whittier in 2025 it lists 152 violent clearances against 334 violent crimes, about 45.5%, and 99 property clearances against 1,666 property crimes, about 5.9%. In 2019 the shares were 74.2% and 19.7%. These are our divisions of the DOJ counts. A clearance in one year can relate to a crime from an earlier year, so treat the percentages as a rough guide, not a case-by-case solve rate.
For a buyer, the practical point is that most reported property crime in Whittier, as in most California cities, is never cleared. Locks, lighting, cameras and insurance matter more than the arrest rate for the theft risk on a given house.
Whittier crime rates compared with nearby cities
To compare places of different sizes, divide crimes by population. We used the DOJ's 2025 counts and the Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2020-2024 population for each city: 86,165 for Whittier. The rates below are our calculation from those two official sources, rounded to one decimal.
| City (2025) | Population (ACS) | Violent per 1,000 | Property per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whittier | 86,165 | 3.9 | 19.3 |
| La Habra | 61,970 | 2.5 | 13.8 |
| Norwalk | 99,789 | 3.2 | 15.4 |
| Pico Rivera | 60,272 | 4.7 | 20.6 |
| Santa Fe Springs | 18,871 | 9.4 | 56.9 |
| California | 39,287,377 | 4.3 | 18.0 |
Whittier's violent rate is below Pico Rivera's and the state's; its property rate sits between the two, a little above the state's. Santa Fe Springs looks far higher because its crimes are divided by under 19,000 residents. Per-resident rates do not count workers, shoppers or visitors, so a small city with large commercial and industrial areas will always look worse on this measure.
What is newer than the DOJ file
The DOJ file stops at 2025. For anything more recent in the city, ask WPD for its latest statistics or annual report before you rely on a trend.
For the unincorporated Whittier areas, the Sheriff publishes a two-year comparison by patrol station. In its 2024 vs. 2025 report (generated January 22, 2026), the Norwalk Station's unincorporated area, which includes South and East Whittier along with other county pockets, recorded 872 Part I crimes in 2024 and 703 in 2025, a fall of 19.4%. Violent crimes there went from 157 to 167, and property crimes from 715 to 536. The report does not split South Whittier from East Whittier, so these figures cover a wider area than any one neighborhood.
What crime statistics can and cannot tell you about a Whittier street
City totals describe about 86,000 people across hillside streets, the older grid around Philadelphia Street and Greenleaf Avenue, and the commercial strips along Whittier Boulevard. A citywide rate cannot tell you how one block compares with another. Keep these limits in mind:
- Reported crime only. The counts include crimes reported to police, not every incident.
- Where crime is recorded is not where people live. Thefts cluster at stores, parking lots and transit stops, so a shopping area inflates the count for its surroundings.
- Small numbers swing. Two homicides in a city of 86,000 is a small count; one incident changes the rate noticeably.
- Counting rules change. Agencies can change how they record and report incidents, and a jump between two years can partly reflect counting. Ask the agency whether its reporting system changed, and compare several years, not two.
That is why this page has no list of "safest neighborhoods". No official Whittier dataset ranks areas, and a ranking built from a third-party model would not meet our sourcing rules.
How to check crime near a Whittier address
Whittier Police Department reports and maps
Start with WPD. Ask the records desk or the watch commander whether the department publishes incident maps or monthly statistics, and request calls for service near the address for the past year. Calls for service show noise, traffic and disturbance calls that never appear in crime totals.
LASD Norwalk Station for South and East Whittier
If the address is unincorporated, use the Sheriff's Crime Stats Dashboard and the Norwalk Station's published station reports. The station can also tell you which reporting district covers the street.
CrimeMapping and FBI Crime Data Explorer
CrimeMapping.com shows incidents for agencies that share data with it; search the address and check which agency's data appears. The FBI Crime Data Explorer lets you look up the Whittier Police Department as an agency and see its reported offenses by year and type.
Megan's Law registry for Whittier addresses
The California DOJ Megan's Law website lets you search registered sex offenders by address or ZIP. Sellers and agents are not required to research it for you, so run the search yourself.
Visit a Whittier street at different times
Walk the block on a weekday evening and a weekend night. Look at lighting, parking pressure and how close the house is to busy corridors such as Whittier Boulevard, Washington Boulevard or Lambert Road. Ask neighbors directly about package theft and car break-ins.
Earthquake, fire and flood checks for a Whittier home
Crime is one risk; the land is another, and in Whittier it often affects insurance costs more.
Whittier Fault and earthquake checks
The Southern California Earthquake Data Center lists the Whittier Fault as a right-lateral strike-slip fault about 40 km long, with Whittier, Hacienda Heights and Yorba Linda as the nearest communities and probable magnitudes of 6.0 to 7.2. Check the Natural Hazard Disclosure report for fault and seismic hazard zones, ask whether an older house has been bolted to its foundation, and read our California earthquake insurance guide before you price a policy.
Hillside fire zones in Whittier
Homes next to hillside open space may fall in a CAL FIRE fire hazard severity zone. Look the parcel up on Cal OES MyHazards or the state fire hazard map, and see our wildfire zones guide for what a designation means for defensible space and cover.
Flood maps for Whittier parcels
Check the FEMA Flood Map Service Center for the parcel's flood zone, and ask your lender whether flood insurance will be required. Our homeowners insurance guide covers how these checks affect premiums.
A checklist before you buy or rent in Whittier
- Confirm whether the address is in the City of Whittier or unincorporated county land.
- Pull the right agency's figures: WPD for the city, the Sheriff's Norwalk Station for South and East Whittier.
- Compare at least three years of DOJ data, not one.
- Ask for calls for service near the address.
- Search the Megan's Law site by address.
- Check earthquake, fire and flood zones in the disclosure report and on MyHazards.
- Get insurance quotes before you remove your contingencies.
- Visit at night and talk to neighbors.
For prices, ZIP-level values and the rest of the city, see the Whittier home buying guide and the Whittier neighborhoods guide.