Fear of Crime Rises, Survey Shows : Times Poll: One out of four Valley area residents say they have taken steps--buying guns or dogs, installing alarms or window bars--in the past year to protect themselves and their homes.

A quarter of San Fernando Valley residents have taken steps in the last year--from installing burglar bars and alarms to buying guns and dogs--to protect themselves and their homes from crime, The Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

An almost equal number of residents of communities to the north and west of the Valley have taken the same measures, despite lower incidences of crime in those areas, poll results show.

About 25% of the residents questioned about crime in parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties said they have taken at least one private safety precaution--acquisition of a dog, gun, alarm or window bars--in the last 12 months.

Most respondents said their community has a more serious crime problem than it did five years ago. More than a third said they would feel “very or somewhat unsafe” walking alone at night in their neighborhoods. And one out of seven people said they take a weapon--such as Chemical Mace, a knife or a gun--with them when they leave home.

Times Poll Director I.A. Lewis said the results of the telephone poll reflect both a high concern about crime in the fast-growing region and the willingness of many people to do something about it on their own.

The poll, conducted Nov. 12 and 13, surveyed a random selection of 1,435 residents in a region spanning the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys and eastern Ventura County, including Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.

Deputy Los Angeles Police Chief Ronald A. Frankle, commander of operations in the San Fernando Valley, said more and more citizens are taking safety precautions because of the criminal justice system’s failure to curtail crime.

Many Valley residents “are trying to do some of the things that will offset that weakness,” Frankle said. “People are increasingly security-conscious, and that is appropriate. They are protecting themselves.”

Frankle said the Valley is struggling with many of the same problems as inner-city Los Angeles, including gangs, drugs and homelessness.

“Anyone who is not concerned with crime doesn’t understand what is out there,” Frankle said. “The Valley isn’t suburban anymore. The density of population, the development; it is mainly an urban environment now.”

More than a third of those polled said they feel unsafe walking alone at night in their neighborhood; a tenth said they feel unsafe when alone in their home at night.

Concerned about neighborhood burglaries and other crime, poll respondent Katie Eddleman of Van Nuys bought two dogs earlier this year. As a result, she believes she is safe at home and while jogging in the neighborhood, as long as one of her Akitas is running with her, she said.

“They are tough, mean dogs, very protective,” said Eddleman, who is single. “I didn’t feel safe before. I don’t feel any neighborhood is safe, but it has made a big difference with the dogs.”

The safety climate of the suburbs is clearly changing, said Rick Barr, owner of Safety & Security Systems. The Van Nuys company provides home-protection services, such as armed patrols, and sells sophisticated infrared sound and movement sensors.

“A high level of danger is normal now,” Barr said. “There is a feeling that the government and police are really not capable of protecting people to the degree they want. People are doing it themselves.”

That feeling, in part, may have been formed by the media, said Ernest Kamm, a professor and former chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice at Cal State Los Angeles.

Because the Los Angeles area is such a large media center, Kamm said, residents receive an almost daily barrage of crime news. The effect may be an unjustified fear of crime.

“The media publicizes crimes, and the message is repeated and repeated,” Kamm said. “It is on the 5 o’clock news, the 6 o’clock news, the 10 o’clock news . . . and then the newspaper. They feel that if they want to be secure, they have to go back to the common-law practice of self-help.”

Although concern about crime was high throughout the region, poll results show a clear division between the San Fernando Valley and the outlying areas, Lewis said. Valley residents are more fearful in their homes and neighborhoods.

In the Valley, about half of those polled said crime has no effect on their ability to enjoy life. In the surrounding areas, 71% said crime did not affect their enjoyment of life.

Most people in the Valley mentioned drugs and crime when asked to name the biggest problem in their communities. In the outlying areas, most people mentioned traffic congestion first and then affordable housing and drugs before crime. Crime and drugs were allowed as separate responses in the poll, though in the minds of many people the two problems are related, Lewis said.

Most Valley residents polled said gang activity was present in their neighborhoods while most in the outlying areas said it was not. Of the Valley residents polled, 12% said there is a lot of gang activity in their neighborhoods. In the outlying areas, 3% said there was a lot of gang activity.

Capt. Robert Spierer, commander of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department station in the Santa Clarita Valley, said poll results show that residents of outlying communities do not feel an immediate threat from crime.

Anti-crime efforts by citizens in this area may be motivated more by a desire to protect possessions than by fear for personal safety. However, Spierer believes that citizens of the outlying areas look to the San Fernando Valley and worry that crime may worsen in their own communities.

“I don’t think residents here feel immediately threatened,” Spierer said. “But they are becoming more concerned about what is going to happen. They don’t want the Santa Clarita Valley to have the types of crime problems the San Fernando Valley has.”

Poll respondents’ belief that drugs and gangs are at the core of the San Fernando Valley’s crime problems mirrors contentions by police. Last month, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that crime in the Valley was up 8.2% over last year. The blame was laid on property crimes related to drug activity and violence attributed to gangs.

“It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure it out,” Lt. Ron Seban said, when the department released its statistics. “It all goes hand in hand.”

One of four people polled in the San Fernando Valley said they have given some thought to moving because of fear of crime. In the outlying areas, the response dropped to fewer than one in 10.

The poll findings suggest that the measures residents are taking to protect themselves against crime are increasing.

Dogs and burglar alarms were the most popular anti-crime measures mentioned in the survey. Of those polled, 24% mentioned that they have burglar alarms, and one of three said the alarm systems were installed within the last 12 months.

Indeed, sellers and installers of alarm systems reported that business is good.

George Gunning, co-owner of ASI Security in Chatsworth, said his small company has installed twice as many $1,500 to $2,500 alarm systems as last year.

One reason for his business boom is concern about crime, Gunning said, ranging from fears of physical injury to homeowners wanting better security because of rising property values or because they own more possessions.

“There are a lot of aspects to it,” Gunning said. “Crime is definitely the big one.”

That burglar alarms are becoming standard fare in many new apartment complexes also may be a factor in the number of respondents who said they have installed the home-protection devices in the past year.

A Sherman Oaks respondent said she moved this year into a new apartment that was equipped with a burglar alarm. The alarm, she said, was one reason for her decision to rent the apartment. But, she said, she might not have installed the device on her own.

“I don’t know if I would have,” she said. “My boyfriend already keeps guns in the apartment.”

Poll respondents said they have acquired dogs, burglar bars and guns.

About 40% of those questioned said they own a dog for protection, and one of four said they bought a dog in the last year.

About a quarter of those polled said they keep a gun in their homes for protection. And 29% of those who said they have guns responded that they bought the weapons in the last 12 months.

The poll shows that 11% of those polled have put bars on their windows. A third of those who have taken that safety precaution said they did so in the last year.

“It is unfortunate, but people are having to rely more on themselves,” said Paul Weckstein, owner of California Police Dogs Inc. in Canoga Park. While his company used to provide dogs almost exclusively to police departments, it now counts private citizens as nearly half of its customers.

“Crime is on the upswing, the police are understaffed,” Weckstein said. “People are beginning to understand that it isn’t the job of police to stand at their doors and prevent break-ins.”

Citizens’ private efforts to protect themselves are deterrents to crime and provide a sense of security, authorities said. But in some cases, noted Kamm of Cal State Los Angeles, that feeling of security may be somewhat unjustified.

“There is a positive effect,” Kamm said. “But to go out and buy a gun and not know how to use it, or not be psychologically ready to use it, is useless. But it gives the person who possesses it the feeling of security.”

Lewis, the poll’s director, said personal information from poll respondents provides a profile of those concerned by crime.

Those who feel unsafe walking in their neighborhoods tend to be longtime residents, ranging from lower- to middle-income people, Lewis said.

White-collar workers in sales-related jobs also tend to feel unsafe, according to the poll. More women respondents said they feel unsafe. Half of the Latinos questioned said they feel unsafe walking alone at night in their neighborhoods.

Many of the respondents who feel unsafe in their neighborhoods are retired people and homemakers. A quarter of those who said they feel very unsafe walking in their neighborhood are people who are not in the labor force.

Higher-income residents were less fearful, the poll found. About 6% who had annual incomes greater than $60,000 said they felt very unsafe walking in their neighborhood at night. Lewis said that result was not unusual because higher-income residents generally live in neighborhoods with lower crime rates and have more money to spend on safety precautions.

“Crime is a concern to everybody,” Lewis said. “But the rich people are better insulated from it.”

POLL AT A GLANCE

* Many residents of the San Fernando Valley and the nearby suburban areas have recently taken measures to protect themselves against crime.

Q. “As a protective measure, in the last 12 months have you. . . “

Yes No Bought a gun 7% 93% Bought a dog 10% 90% Installed window bars 4% 96% Installed a burglar alarm 9% 91% Done at least one of the above 25% 75% Done more than one of the above 3% 97%

Q. “When you go out, do you take a means of protection with you such as Chemical Mace or a knife or a gun?” Yes: 15% No: 84% Refused: 1%

* Residents feel crime is a major problem in their communities.

Q. “Would you say the people who live in your community have a more serious problem now than they had five years ago?” More serious: 56% About the same: 32% Less serious: 6% Not sure: 6%

Q. “How safe do you feel being out alone at night walking in your neighborhood?” Very safe: 24% Somewhat safe: 37% Somewhat unsafe: 20% Very unsafe: 16% Don’t know: 3%

COMPARISON OF THE VALLEYS

* Residents of the San Fernando Valley feel the impact of crime more than those in the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys and Eastern Ventura County.

Q. “How safe do you feel being alone at night in your home?”

San Fernando Valley Other Areas Very Safe 44% 64% Somewhat Safe 43% 30% Somewhat Unsafe 9% 4% Very Unsafe 3% 2% Not Sure 1% 0%

“How safe do you feel being out alone at night walking in your neighborhood?’ ‘

San Fernando Valley Other Areas Very Safe 16% 38% Somewhat Safe 35% 41% Somewhat Unsafe 24% 12% Very Unsafe 22% 7% Not Sure 2% 2% Refused Answer 1% 0%

Q. “What do you think is the biggest problem facing your community?” (percentages reflect that poll respondents could name two problems)

San Fernando Valley Other Areas Affordable Housing 18% 27% Crime 36% 23% Drugs 40% 27% Education 8% 7% Environment 13% 6% Gangs 19% 12% Jobs 1% 3% Traffic Congestion 24% 44% Other 6% 10% Not Sure 5% 4% Refused Answer 1% 1%

Q. “Have you thought about moving from the community in which you now live because you fear for your safety?”

San Fernando Valley Other Areas Have not thought about moving 72% 93% Will possibly move 12% 2% Will probably move 6% 2% Will certainly move 10% 2% Not Sure 0% 1%

Q. “Do you think crime and violence make it difficult for you to get much enjoyment out what you do?”

San Fernando Valley Other Areas Difficult to do things 25% 9% Somewhere in between 24% 18% Don’t seem to have any effect 49% 71% Not Sure 2% 2%

Q. “Have you bought a gun for your home as a means of protection? If so, did you buy it in the past 12 months?”

San Fernando Valley Other Areas Did not buy a gun 77% 70% Yes, bought a gun within 12 months 7% 7% Yes, but more than 12 months ago 15% 21% Refused Answer 1% 2%

Q. “When you go out, do you take some means of protection such as chemical Mace, a knife or a gun?’ ‘

San Fernando Valley Other Areas Yes 16% 12% No 83% 87% Refused Answer 1% 1%

Q. “Would you say people who live in your community have a more serious crime problem now than they had five years ago?”

San Fernando Valley Other Areas More Serious 56% 56% About the Same 32% 32% Less Serious 6% 6% Not Sure 6% 6%