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While overall crime rate dips in Glendale, stats show a rise in violent offenses

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Violent crime in Glendale — which encompass homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — rose last year by nearly 17% over 2015, according to year-end crime statistics recently released by the Glendale Police Department. Of those, the most significant increase was a jump in rape incidents from 15 reports the previous year to 40 in 2016.

Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William said the rise in rapes is not actually a rise at all. The higher number is because of a reclassification of the crime by the FBI.

“An investigation into an allegation of oral copulation prior to 2016 would have been a separate category from rape,” he said. “Now, it’s classified as rape. So an increase in those numbers is to be expected.”

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The number of robberies reported in the city rose from 77 in 2015 to 84 in 2016 while the amount of aggravated assaults jumped from 99 to 104.

Burglaries rose from 530 in 2015 to 596 in 2016, while auto burglaries jumped from 440 reported cases to 499. Grand thefts were higher by nearly 5%, with 355 cases in 2016 compared to 339 in 2015.

Those upward trends stand out in a report that shows the overall combined rate of violent and property crimes in the city was slightly lower in 2016 in comparison to 2015. The statistics showed a total of 3,680 incidents were reported last year while 3,714 were recorded in 2015 — a .92% decrease.

Property crimes — including several types of burglaries and thefts as well as arson — saw a decrease of about 2%, falling from 3,518 cases to 3,451.

The number of petty thefts fell from 1,857 the previous year to 1,637 in 2016. According to William this was the primary reason the overall crime rate fell.

Arson remained steady in both years with only five cases being reported for each.

Glendale saw fewer homicides in 2016 with only one case being reported versus five in the previous year. Last June a Florida man was shot outside of a Glendale apartment.

Phillip Niles Jr. was shot in the early hours of June 25 outside of an apartment complex in the 1700 block of North Verdugo Road. Two northern Californian men, 25-year-old Laquan Dontae Parker and 26-year-old Brandon Jamal Perkins, were arrested for the shooting shortly thereafter and have been in custody ever since.

The case is currently being heard in court.

In addition to the number of violent and property crimes, the statistics also included several special categories where police responded.

Officers responded to 29 calls of child abuse in 2016, compared to 27 that were recorded in 2015. The number of domestic violence incidents rose by nearly 6%, up from 334 to 353.

The department also handled fewer identity theft and vandalism cases in 2016 than it did in 2015.

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Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc

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