Money-Related Major Crimes Up Last Year : Law enforcement: Cases of burglary, theft, vehicle theft and arson increased 6.4%. Robberies were up 1.5% but other violent offenses decreased 10.6%.

Glendale Police have released a crime summary showing that local lawbreakers stole cash, cars and other property at a heightened pace last year.

Major crimes citywide were up 5% in 1991, compared to the previous year, led by offenses that were motivated by money, and the region’s recessionary woes might be partly to blame, police officials said this week.

Property-related crimes--including burglary, theft, vehicle theft and arson--together jumped 6.4%, compared to Glendale’s 1990 totals.

At the same time, so-called violent crimes involving personal confrontations--homicide, forcible rape, robbery and felony assault--together decreased 10.6%. Although violent crimes, overall, were down, robberies--in which monetary gain is usually the motive--were up 1.5%.

“This tells us that wherever money is involved, those kinds of crimes increased,” said Jack Altounian, the Police Department’s crime analyst. “I do speculate that this has something to do with the economic climate.”

The overall 5% increase was determined by adding 1991’s violent and property crimes, and comparing the total to the 1990 figure.

Police also released the city’s crime rate, based on the number of incidents per 100,000 residents. This measurement takes into account changes in population and allows for a crime comparison between cities of different sizes.

Glendale officials said the city’s population in 1991 was 182,566, up from 180,038 the previous year. The crime rate rose 3.5% to 5,078 incidents per 100,000 residents.

Altounian said Glendale’s crime rate is lower than neighboring cities, such as Los Angeles and Pasadena.

“The figures for 1991 tell us that Glendale is considered to be one of the safest cities in Los Angeles County, and in California in general, for cities that have populations over 100,000,” he said.

Police investigated eight Glendale homicide cases in 1991--up from three the previous year. But Altounian said the change is not significant because of the low numbers involved. During the past 15 years, the crime analyst said, the city has never exceeded eight homicides per year, although it has reached that peak four times.

The greatest change in 1991 was a 27.4% decrease in felony assaults. But Altounian said there was an increase in less serious scuffles that resulted in misdemeanor assault charges.

Police said one of the key areas of concern is robberies, which have hit record highs in Glendale over the past two years. More than half of the 398 holdups last year were considered “highway robberies” in which the victim had a wallet, purse or other item taken by force on the street.

But Sgt. Lief Nicolaisen, a department spokesman, said, “What alarms me is the increase in residential robberies.”

Although exact figures were not available, he said a greater number of Glendale residents were bound, gagged and robbed inside their homes last year. Nicolaisen said this is part of a countywide trend.

Because the department is installing a new computer system, police officials said they have not yet computed how many cases of robbery, burglary or other offenses led to arrests.

But overall, Nicolaisen said, Glendale officers made 10,193 arrests during 1991--up 5.2% from the previous year.

Violent Crime in Glendale

Type of Crime 1991 1990 % Change Homicide 8 3 * Forcible Rape 36 37 -2.7% Robbery 398 392 +1.5% Assault 241 332 -27.4% Burglary 2,025 1,916 +5.7% Theft 4,763 4,549 +4.7% Stolen Vehicle 1,751 1,556 +12.5% Arson 48 46 +4.3% Total 5,078 4,905 +3.5%

* Note: no percentage calculated for single-digit base.

Source: Glendale Police Department