Crime Statistics Show Decline, but Accuracy Assailed : Law enforcement: Report shows decrease of 4% compared to first six months of last year. Numbers raise questions, however, in part because of conflicting arson totals.

Overall crime in Long Beach decreased during the first half of the year, but murders rose by 36%, according to recently released police statistics.

The numbers have been questioned, however, in part because they reflect a significantly lower number of arsons than apparently occurred.

In general, crime went down 4% in Long Beach, compared with the first six months of last year, the Long Beach Police Department reported. Violent crimes, including rape, robbery and aggravated assault, decreased 23%.

However, homicides jumped from 47 during the first six months of 1991 to 64 during the same period this year.

Acting Deputy Police Chief Jerry E. Lance said there is no pattern to homicides. Although the murder rate leaped 36% in the first six months of the year, he pointed out that murder statistics through the end of July are similar to the first seven months of last year--65 compared to 62--because 15 people were killed in July, 1991, whereas only one murder was reported last month.

Lance said law enforcement officials can do little to decrease the number of murders. They are often committed by people who know each other, he said, and adding police officers to the force won’t stop them. An increase in street patrols, however, helped to lower overall crime in the city, he said.

Police officials said they are pleased with the general decrease in crime, but at least one Long Beach councilman said he does not have faith in the new figures. Like the 1991 annual crime statistics, the semiannual report apparently has inaccuracies, said Councilman Les Robbins.

Long Beach police reported 99 arsons citywide during the first six months of the year, compared to 47 during the same time period last year. But the Fire Department reported 264 arsons between Jan. 1 and June 30, compared to 61 for the first six months of last year. Most of those fires were set during the Long Beach riots, when firefighters put out more than 150 blazes.

Lance, who oversees the department’s crime analysis, said he did not know why the two agencies have different statistics because his department gets the number of arsons from the Fire Department. Fire Department spokesman Bob Caldon also was at a loss to explain the discrepancy.

Robbins also questioned whether police underreported other crimes, such as the number of commercial burglaries.

In the police-patrolled parts of town, commercial burglaries increased 13%, from 836 to 944. In the two sections of town patrolled by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies, the same crime increased 75% from 125 to 219. Because of the riots, the number of commercial burglaries should have skyrocketed throughout the city, said Robbins, who is a sheriff’s deputy in East Los Angeles.

“I don’t believe their numbers,” Robbins said. “Since last year’s debacle with crime statistics, their numbers have no credibility with me.”

City officials delayed releasing crime statistics for 1991 because of reporting discrepancies between the Long Beach Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department. When the numbers were released, the city’s figures for deputy-patrolled areas were higher than those that the Sheriff’s Department released earlier.

Lance said most of the problems that led to those discrepancies have now been ironed out.

Nonetheless, Robbins said he remains skeptical and points to the latest crime report as proof that the department is not keeping accurate crime records.

Lance said that officers were conscientious about filing police reports, although they may have missed a handful during the riots. “We were more concerned with taking control of the city,” he said.

“We tried to take as many reports as we could. Some may have slipped through the cracks.” Long Beach police also sent out workers from its Community Relations Division to talk to Cambodians and Koreans affected by the disturbances to encourage them to report crimes, he said. “We actively went out and tried to get people to file reports,” he said.

Lance attributed the decrease in overall crime to the hiring of Long Beach officers, a new policy that emphasizes street patrols and continuing aid from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols about 20% of the city.

Significant changes in crime during the first six months include a 21% reduction in the number of rapes, from 149 to 117, and a 39% decrease in the number of aggravated assaults, from 2,580 to 1,572.

Crimes against property decreased nearly 8%. The most significant reduction was in auto burglaries. This year, police reported 3,309 auto burglaries, compared with 4,276 for the same time last year--nearly a 23% decrease.

The latest crime statistics also show that, for the first time, crime went up in the deputy-patrolled parts of town, compared to the areas covered by Long Beach police.

In north and northeastern Long Beach, where deputies patrol, crime rose 4%, according to the Police Department report. In the rest of the city, where local officers patrol, crime decreased 7%. Statistics in the deputy-patrolled parts of town are computed by the Police Department, which receives crime reports from the Sheriff’s Department.

Lt. Marvin Cavanaugh, who oversees Long Beach deputies, said this week that he had not had an opportunity to study the statistics and could not comment.

The crime statistics are no longer compiled for each of the city’s nine council districts. In the past, such breakdowns were used by people seeking the safest parts of town in which to buy or rent a home.

Lance said that Chief William C. Ellis has decided to do away with district reporting because it is too time-consuming for crime analysts.

For years, a number of council members have said that district reporting is unnecessary. Councilman Tom Clark, for example, explained that council members are often unjustly blamed for increases in crime rates.

“I’ve never been enthusiastic about district reporting. From a political standpoint, it’s just basically dynamite to get a bad report during an election year,” said Clark, who represents an area that has seen some crime increases in recent years.

Clark, whose district extends from tranquil Los Altos to parts of Central Long Beach, said he is happy with the change.

Robbins, on the other hand, said he’s displeased with the new reporting format. “I’d like to see my district crime stats,” said Robbins.

Long Beach Crime

For the first half of the year, crime decreased 4.4% overall. However some crimes, notably murder and arson, increased.

CRIMES JUNE 30 JUNE 30 PERCENT AGAINST PEOPLE 1991 1992 CHANGE Murder 47 64 +36.1 Manslaughter 2 0 -100.0 Forcible Rape 149 117 -21.4 Robbery 2,089 2,008 -3.8 Aggravated Assault 2,580 1,572 -39.0 Total 4,867 3,761 -22.7

CRIMES JUNE 30 JUNE 30 PERCENT AGAINST PROPERTY 1991 1992 CHANGE Residential Burglary 2,875 2,768 -3.7 Commercial Burglary 961 1,163 +21.0 Auto Burglary 4,276 3,309 -22.6 Grand Theft 1,119 1,097 -1.9 Petty Theft 2,250 2,319 +3.0 Bike Theft 629 597 -5.0 Auto Theft 3,519 3,075 -12.6 Arson 47 99 +110.6 Total 15,676 14,427 -7.9 Major crimes 20,543 18,188 -11.4 Other crimes 7,418 8,539 +15.1 Total 27,961 26,727 -4.4

Source: Long Beach Police Department