Santa Ana, Anaheim Stations Lead in Police Detective Work

The same state crime statistics that show Long Beach police trailing nine other major cities in solving serious crimes in 1989 also reveal other Southern California police agencies to be leading the pack in detective work.

Police in Santa Ana, for example, solved 81% of reported rape cases--doing nearly 30% better than police agencies on the average in the state’s 10 largest cities. Police in Anaheim made arrests in 71% of their rape cases, according to the California Department of Justice.

Under strict criteria set up by the FBI, the statistics are reported monthly to the Justice Department by all police agencies. They are considered to be one of the most accurate indicators of police performance available in the state, Justice Department officials say.

Police departments said the figures reflect their attempts to deploy scarce resources where they are most needed in departments that cry out yearly for more officers and detectives.

Anaheim police, for example, led all other major cities in cracking assault cases, solving four out of five cases--20% more than the average. San Diego police followed closely behind.

But lesser crimes involving property suffer in the balance, explained Lt. Marc Hedgpeth, commander of the Crimes Against Persons Bureau in Anaheim.

Many departments use a priority system similar to a hospital triage where the sickest patients are attended to first.

“Twenty years ago, every case was probably reviewed or worked in some way. Detectives would go out knocking on doors. We just don’t have the time to do that today,” he said. “But every rape and every aggravated assault is assigned to a detective. In our minds, those crimes are so severe we will work them all.”

Departments like Long Beach say they no longer have such a luxury. There, cases can sit for months unassigned while detectives scramble to process the suspects within 48 hours after arrest, as the law requires, leaving little time for detective work. Long Beach had the worst showing in solved rapes, robberies, burglaries and all major crimes combined, the figures show.

The massive Los Angeles Police Department, meanwhile, far exceeded all other cities in sheer numbers of violent crimes, but was near average in solving them.