Again, Little Stanton Has Biggest Crime Rate : Statistics: Why? The city has a gang and drug problem, is compact and near two freeways, among other things, officials say.

For the fifth straight year, this small, crowded city leads Orange County with the highest crime rate.

With a population of about 30,700, Stanton had the highest overall crime rate of any city in the county, according to newly released figures for 1991, the latest year for which numbers are available.

Someone was murdered, raped, robbed or assaulted in Stanton at least once a day, on average, last year. And more than twice a day, on average, thieves took a car or burglarized a home, according to the state Department of Justice.

“We have the crime that any major metropolitan city has,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Giles, who oversees a vice unit that is kept busy investigating crimes in the city.

Some residents and county sheriff’s officials say drug trafficking and gangs are the root of much of the evil. Stanton’s physical makeup also contributes to its woes, city and law enforcement officials said.

“We are a very compressed area,” Mayor Sal Sapien said. Plus “we are right between two freeways . . . and (criminals) can get away fast,” he said.

Some infrastructure problems, such as inadequate street lighting along stretches of Beach Boulevard or in residential areas, help foster crime, some residents said.

And city officials say potential funding cuts by the state, which has its own budget woes, could further limit their ability to attack the problem with costly additional resources.

Restaurant owner Boris Schulha said he has seen more than his fair share of street crime along Beach Boulevard.

“Being there every day and seeing what goes on every day, you see it goes beyond someone beating someone up for a Walkman,” he said.

“It has been a battle to keep the doors (of businesses) open, let alone the added challenge of graffiti and other problems” in the area, such as burglary, said Schulha, who owns a Wienerschnitzel restaurant on Beach Boulevard near Orangewood Avenue.

Sapien said, however, that with the Sheriff’s Department, “we have a very aggressive patrol.”

The mayor and some at City Hall say they would like to see more deputies, but contend the city would go broke if it tried to hire them. The city spends slightly more than 40% of its $8.28-million budget on law enforcement, according to the latest budget figures.

“I’ve been fighting for more Police Department protection for two years,” Councilman David John Shawver said. Criminals know Stanton does not have adequate protection, he said.

Some residents contend that the forces to combat the city’s violence and theft are going to have to come from the neighborhoods where crime is a constant threat.

“We can’t keep relying on the government to set up programs or the police to solve the problems,” resident Mary Lara said. “The state can’t even get a budget.

“I don’t want to run from the crime. I want to stand my ground and say enough’s enough,” Lara said. She is a member of Standing Together Now, a group of apartment residents near Beach Boulevard and Katella Avenue who united two years ago to provide area children with activities as alternatives to crime.

Statistics show that all is not lost, said authorities with the County Sheriff’s Department. The department has provided all the law enforcement services in the city since its police force was disbanded in 1988.

State statistics show overall crime in Stanton has decreased since 1987, albeit slightly. The overall crime rate fell 0.7% during the five-year period from 1987 to 1991, and it fell 3.8% in 1991.

“Apparently we’re doing something right if the numbers are going down,” Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Rivas said.