Rate of Violent Crimes Rises Sharply in S.D. : Police Report: Decline in burglary and auto theft was offset by a rise in murders, rapes and robberies.

Crime in San Diego declined slightly during the first three months of this year--the first time in six years that the number of incidents actually decreased--but the city experienced a sharp increase in murders, rapes and robberies, Police Chief Bob Burgreen announced Wednesday.

The 0.8% drop in crime from January through March was led by a 6.7% decline in burglaries and a 4.7% decrease in auto thefts over the same period of 1989, attributable to the efforts of Neighborhood Watch groups, heightened public awareness of auto theft and the work of a police unit that focuses on the professional auto thief, Burgreen said.

“For the first quarter of 1990, total crime actually decreased by a small amount, eight-tenths of one percent,” Burgreen told the City Council’s Public Services and Safety Committee. “At least it’s going in the right direction.”

Burgreen also told the committee that he has no intention of entering into a cooperative arrangement with the Guardian Angels, a volunteer anti-crime group that last month asked police to join them in a “partnership against crime.” The Police Department refused, saying that some parts of the Angels’ plan called for illegal or inappropriate actions.

Burgreen said he is “not for any kind of vigilante patrol or movement. It will, over the long haul, lead to problems.”

“What do you really know about these people?” he asked the committee members. “What do you know about their background? What do you know about their current status with the criminal justice system?”

Weston Conwell, head of the local Guardian Angels chapter, accused Burgreen of attempting to discredit him to blunt pressure from the Angels and Councilman John Hartley to fashion a working arrangement with the Police Department.

“He’s ducking and hiding, and this is his only way of responding,” Conwell said in a telephone interview at the Angels’ office. “He’s trying to slam us.”

For instance, he alleged that the police are leaking information

Conwell acknowledged, however, that until Wednesday there were five outstanding warrants on him for failure to appear in court on traffic citations. He said that Wednesday he signed a promise to appear in court.

Burgreen’s crime report showed that the number of city murders rose 32% (from 25 to 32), rapes jumped 26.8% (from 82 to 104) and robberies increased 14.1% (from 861 to 982).

The three recent stabbing deaths of young women in Clairemont contributed to the increase in homicides. But Burgreen said homicide trends remain unpredictable because most killings are related to gangs, drugs and domestic disputes. It is too early to tell whether the increase will continue, he said.

Burgreen attributed the increase in rapes primarily to two still-unsolved series of rapes: five rapes of women in commercial establishments, and a string of 12 rapes and attempted rapes in Southeast San Diego.

Police recently arrested one person they believe is responsible for 34 robberies.

The chief’s report showed the total number of crimes during the first quarter of the year at 25,556, down from 25,755 last year.