Rape, Robbery, Murder Rates Rise in Region : Crime: Better reporting, the weak economy and drugs are cited as reasons in many cases. Overall, violent crime in the area dropped about 1% in 1991.

Rape rose a startling 13.4%, robbery jumped a hefty 8.3% and murder went up 3.8% last year in the San Gabriel Valley, according to crime statistics compiled by area law enforcement agencies.

But, overall, the region had about a 1% decrease in reported violent crime, with small decreases in all but three categories. That meant area residents fared better than those in the rest of the state, which saw an 8.4% crime rate increase last year.

The crime statistics, culled by police departments and four Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department stations in the valley, keep track of murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts and arson cases. Such crimes are reported annually to the state Department of Justice and to the FBI, both of which publish comprehensive crime reports later in the year.

According to last year’s statistics, the number of reported rapes increased in unincorporated areas and in 16 of 29 cities in the region.

In the unincorporated areas patrolled by sheriff’s deputies, rapes increased to 105 from 87 the year before. Six cities patrolled by deputies--Duarte, La Puente, Rosemead, San Dimas, Temple City and Walnut--also saw rape increases.

In West Covina, rapes more than doubled, with 39 reported last year, compared with 18 in 1990. Police Chief Ron Holmes said better education about rape has helped women overcome their reluctance to report the crime.

“A lot of rapes go unreported,” he said. “But sometimes the rape situation changes because sometimes more women are willing to report rapes and it changes the statistics on that. It’s probably the reason for the increase all over.”

Robberies increased in the unincorporated areas and in 17 of the valley cities.

The largest increase, 41.3%, was in El Monte, where Police Capt. Bill Ankeny attributed the rise to the recession.

“People are looking for the quick buck,” he said. “With robberies, you’re not looking at high-dollar crimes. It’s street crime. You grab a wallet, and most of them are not even armed robberies.”

In addition, the homeless and undocumented immigrants, who are victims of many robberies, are becoming increasingly more willing to report the crimes, he said.

The greatest number of murders, 38, occurred in unincorporated areas. The region’s two largest incorporated cities, Pomona and Pasadena, had the most murders. The 25 homicides in Pomona represented a 26.4% decrease from 34 reported in 1990; Pasadena’s 21 murders constituted a 10.5% increase from 19 the previous year.

Pomona Police Chief Lloyd Wood said the decline in homicides in his city was the result of a decrease in gang-related slayings. Of the 34 murders reported in 1990, 21 were gang-related, while only seven were gang-related last year, he said.

Ten of the valley’s 29 cities, and the unincorporated area, saw an overall statistical increase in violent crime.

The heftiest increases came in two of the region’s poshest cities--San Marino, which reported a 17.4% rise, and South Pasadena, which jumped 20.9%

San Marino Police Capt. Gary Isaacs blamed most of the overall increase, in part, on his city’s burglary rate, which skyrocketed by 54.8%, because the city’s population increasingly contains working couples, both of whom are not at home during the day, leaving homes vulnerable to intruders.

South Pasadena Police Chief Tom Mahoney said that in his small city of 27,000 residents, any change in the crime statistics is reflected in a disproportionate change in percentages.

“You could say our statistics reflect a 100% increase in murder, but that’s because we had one this year, a murder-suicide, and none the year before,” Mahoney said.

Nineteen of the valley’s 29 cities reported decreases in violent crimes, ranging from Sierra Madre’s impressive 28.3% decrease to those of about 1% in El Monte, Pasadena and San Gabriel.

In Alhambra, the valley’s fifth largest city with a population of 82,106, violent crime was down by 3.2%.

Police Chief Russell K. Siverling credited the decline to a flexible staffing schedule, called “directed patrol,” which allows his 96 sworn officers to work different hours on patrol, focus on neighborhoods with problems and avoid making “superfluous warrant arrests,” he said.

“There’s nothing magic about it; it’s just basic police work,” he said.

For tiny Sierra Madre, with a population of 10,762, Police Chief Bill Betts attributed last year’s decline in crime to a reduction of drug activity.

“A lot of people think thefts are related to the economic condition, but that’s not so,” Betts said. “Poor people are not liable to steal any more than others. The factor that creates the crime is drugs.”

Crime in the San Gabriel Valley

Murder Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Alhambra 1990 3 22 316 740 960 1991 8 16 306 758 929 Arcadia 1990 1 9 106 302 737 1991 1 6 168 283 497 Azusa 1990 5 9 115 532 588 1991 2 17 91 636 656 Baldwin Park 1990 8 16 290 717 1,460 1991 12 24 258 726 1,217 Bradbury 1990 0 0 1 1 8 1991 0 0 1 4 1 City of Industry 1990 5 10 119 125 361 1991 2 7 149 116 356 Claremont 1990 2 10 69 47 396 1991 0 7 79 51 538 Covina 1990 2 13 129 373 561 1991 1 11 146 416 616 Diamond Bar 1990 4 8 80 205 456 1991 3 7 87 158 490 Duarte 1990 0 2 59 159 254 1991 2 4 47 127 185 El Monte 1990 9 47 578 683 1,824 1991 14 51 817 585 1,605 Glendora 1990 1 13 49 506 408 1991 0 8 59 515 404 Irwindale 1990 0 3 10 54 125 1991 1 4 15 52 150 La Puente 1990 12 16 243 589 465 1991 10 18 227 514 419 La Verne 1990 1 8 32 81 261 1991 0 5 47 76 396 Monrovia 1990 4 18 164 235 527 1991 6 19 124 242 503 Monterey Park 1990 2 11 339 413 829 1991 7 12 331 534 783 Pasadena 1990 19 53 790 1,661 1,626 1991 21 63 785 1,653 1,859 Pomona 1990 34 71 1,031 1,243 2,034 1991 25 86 977 1,214 2,511 Rosemead 1990 5 9 236 481 724 1991 7 16 251 448 673 San Dimas 1990 2 6 38 167 317 1991 4 10 37 160 327 San Gabriel 1990 3 16 90 355 586 1991 1 7 123 323 513 San Marino 1990 1 0 16 14 82 1991 0 0 15 27 127 Sierra Madre 1990 0 0 2 13 76 1991 0 1 5 8 62 South El Monte 1990 3 13 85 212 380 1991 3 7 112 229 313 South Pasadena 1990 0 7 72 38 266 1991 1 4 89 48 304 Temple City 1990 3 3 52 151 279 1991 1 7 61 93 324 Walnut 1990 3 2 30 100 314 1991 2 6 47 89 288 West Covina 1990 11 18 276 428 1,277 1991 15 39 337 401 1,178 Unincorporated areas 1990 37 87 672 2,613 3,674 1991 38 105 802 2,738 3,606 San Gabriel Valley Totals 1990 180 500 6,089 13,238 21,855 1991 187 567 6,593 13,224 21,830

Auto Percent Theft Theft Arson Total Change Alhambra 1990 2,216 846 46 5,149 1991 2,035 883 47 4,982 -3.24 Arcadia 1990 1,247 327 0 2,729 1991 1,141 336 0 2,432 -10.8 Azusa 1990 1,171 340 28 2,788 1991 1,046 445 26 2,919 +4.69 Baldwin Park 1990 459 789 39 3,778 1991 383 775 29 3,424 -9.37 Bradbury 1990 6 3 0 19 1991 5 1 1 13 -31.5 City of Industry 1990 2,012 758 13 3,403 1991 1,799 703 7 3,139 -7.75 Claremont 1990 810 173 7 1,514 1991 866 153 10 1,704 +12.54 Covina 1990 1,348 448 11 2,885 1991 1,384 533 13 3,120 +8.14 Diamond Bar 1990 743 418 9 1,923 1991 672 346 15 1,778 -7.5 Duarte 1990 359 117 3 953 1991 352 183 2 902 -5.3 El Monte 1990 2,202 1,239 59 6,641 1991 2,145 1,290 67 6,574 -1.0 Glendora 1990 949 175 7 2,108 1991 941 167 20 2,114 +0.28 Irwindale 1990 100 73 0 365 1991 109 77 1 409 +12.05 La Puente 1990 645 446 25 2,441 1991 603 412 16 2,219 -9.09 La Verne 1990 703 155 6 1,247 1991 635 121 6 1,286 +3.12 Monrovia 1990 1,224 247 16 2,435 1991 1,209 241 3 2,347 -3.61 Monterey Park 1990 1,159 737 2 3,492 1991 1,046 764 16 3,493 +.028 Pasadena 1990 4,890 1,391 141 10,571 1991 4,657 1,297 116 10,451 -1.13 Pomona 1990 3,460 1,613 378 9,864 1991 3,635 1,699 374 10,521 +6.66 Rosemead 1990 1,039 508 26 3,028 1991 928 474 21 2,818 -6.93 San Dimas 1990 575 188 9 1,302 1991 570 153 10 1,271 -2.38 San Gabriel 1990 868 280 16 2,214 1991 895 311 11 2,184 -1.35 San Marino 1990 186 17 0 316 1991 182 15 5 371 +17.4 Sierra Madre 1990 117 18 0 226 1991 71 14 1 162 -28.3 South El Monte 1990 476 314 14 1,497 1991 405 271 9 1,349 -9.9 South Pasadena 1990 455 174 10 1,022 1991 538 234 18 1,236 +20.9 Temple City 1990 490 133 12 1,123 1991 458 145 7 1,096 -2.4 Walnut 1990 370 129 7 955 1991 364 115 7 918 -3.87 West Covina 1990 3,511 1,602 28 7,151 1991 3,468 1,499 28 6,965 -2.6 Unincorporated areas 1990 4,082 2,213 145 13,523 1991 4,058 2,044 158 13,549 +0.19 San Gabriel Valley Totals 1990 37,872 15,871 1,057 96,662 1991 36,600 15,701 1,044 95,746 -0.94

Sources: Local police agencies and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department