SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus delivered a presentation to the city’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday morning.
The presentation included crime statistics from property crime numbers to violent crimes around San Antonio over the first three months of 2025.
McManus posted a breakdown of some of the data to X, formerly Twitter, before the meeting.
McManus called the 19.3% drop in crime from the first quarter of 2025 versus 2024 “a significant drop.”
SA crime down 19.3% for first quarter 2025 vs 2024 numbers. - a significant drop. Just to mention a few categories…violent crime down 12.8% while property crime down 24.5%. Homicides down 37.5%. Motor vehicle theft down 43.2%.
— Chief Bill McManus (@Chief_McManus) April 15, 2025
KSAT asked several San Antonio residents about their thoughts on the change and whether they feel safe or not.
“Well, I’m never really uncomfortable,” said Benito Medrano.
But not everyone feels the same way as Medrano does.
“We’re saying that crime is down, but that is not the perception,” said District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur during Tuesday’s meeting.
During the meeting, McManus blamed reporters.
“When you watch the news, (the) first half-a-dozen stories are lights and sirens. Who got shot, who got stabbed, who got killed and then they move on,” McManus said. “So, that’s where people get their perceptions: on the news.”
KSAT reviewed every newscast from the Nightbeat on April 14 through the 5 p.m. newscast on April 15 and found McManus’ claim, at least regarding KSAT, to be untrue.
“Does that really have an impact on the way you feel about safety?” KSAT asked Medrano.
“No, because I mean, the news is the news,” Medrano answered. “They have to report this kind of stuff.”
