Murders, Rapes Down, but Violence Increasing : Crime: Robberies are up, especially in affluent areas. Police say more bandits are intent on beating victims as well.

Murders and rapes are declining in most South Bay cities, newly released state data shows, but robberies, assaults, burglaries and auto thefts appear to be on the upswing.

Police officials suspect the area’s floundering economy might have contributed to the South Bay’s 10% increase in robberies from 1990 to 1991 and the 13.8% increase in auto thefts during the same period, according to state Department of Justice figures.

Hard economic times prompt more people to turn to crime for a living, said Sgt. Hector Zabala of the Lomita sheriff’s station, which serves that city, as well as most of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

“They realize the fact that there are some people in this area who have money and they come here to victimize these people,” he said.

And, despite a whopping 19.8% decline in South Bay homicides and a 9% drop in the area’s rapes, police say they are alarmed by what they see as a growing trend toward violence.

“I honestly don’t know why it’s happening,” said Capt. Jan Ogden of the Hawthorne Police Department. “But now they’re robbing you and they’re beating you at the same time, even if you don’t try to fight back. . . . They’re getting more bold. The violence is frightening.”

Zabala agreed.

“People just don’t value life the way they once did,” he said. “These individuals don’t want to get caught and they don’t want witnesses testifying against them, or sometimes they just lash out. . . . The criminals believe they won’t be punished.”

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Generally, the South Bay’s more affluent areas experienced the largest increases in robberies. Manhattan Beach, which recorded 60 robberies in 1990, saw a 75% jump to 105 in 1991. Rancho Palos Verdes saw a 73% increase, from 22 in 1990 to 38 in 1991.

Burglaries increased 4.9% throughout the South Bay, including Carson’s 22% rise from 824 in 1990 to 1,008 during 1991.

But some cities, Hawthorne and Lawndale among them, managed to reduce their burglary rates.

The Lawndale area bucked the South Bay’s overall trend by cutting crime in four of seven state crime categories. Officers with the sheriff’s Lennox substation, who patrol the area, credit the reduction in part to the hiring of five civilian service officers who relieve the station’s uniformed deputies of routine report-taking duties.

“It leaves our officers free to handle other matters and free to continue patrolling,” Sgt. Donald Washington said. “We’ve had more instances now of crimes in progress where officers were driving down the street and were able to intervene. . . . We’re seeing more and being seen, and that curtails crime.”

Catching even a handful of active burglars also can cause a sharp reduction in the burglary rate.

“Burglars (often) live in the neighborhoods they burglarize,” Washington said. “You arrest even two or three of them and the statistics are going to drop for that neighborhood.”

Hawthorne credits a 12.3% reduction in its burglary rate to a new bicycle patrol team.

“Our statistics went down in the areas they have been patrolling,” Capt. Jan Ogden said. “They’ve been working the higher crime areas, getting to know people. People are more willing to talk to someone who isn’t inside a car . . . and if people are more willing to report suspicious things going on, then our patrols are more likely to be able to catch something happening.”

Few South Bay cities were able to do much to reduce auto thefts, however.

“It just seems to be a very lucrative crime,” Torrance Police Lt. Paul Nowatka said. “Law enforcement in general is doing all we can to stop it and private industry has responded with various tracking services . . . (but) it’s not a crime that if someone is arrested they’ll get a significant punishment, and the criminals know that.”

Crime in the South Bay In 1991, South Bay murders and rapes declined in number while the incidence of other crimes increased, according to an annual compilation released by the California Department of Justice.

Homicide Rape Robbery City 1990 1991 1990 1991 1990 1991 Avalon 0 0 1 3 3 1 Carson 6 7 30 36 323 381 El Segundo 2 1 5 3 36 47 Gardena 10 7 23 44 609 615 Hawthorne 10 6 46 40 770 826 Hermosa Beach 0 0 2 2 29 33 Inglewood 55 46 103 69 1,488 1,542 Lawndale 7 1 9 10 180 187 Lomita 2 0 6 6 39 58 Los Angeles* 983 1,027 2,014 1,966 36,098 39,778 Manhattan Beach 0 0 5 4 60 105 Palos Verdes Estates 0 2 3 1 7 4 Rancho Palos Verdes 0 0 6 8 22 38 Redondo Beach 2 5 18 16 149 180 Rolling Hills 0 0 0 0 1 0 Rolling Hills Estates 0 0 1 1 12 9 Torrance 2 2 31 23 393 508 CSU Dominguez Hills 0 0 1 0 0 1

Assault Burglary Auto theft City 1990 1991 1990 1991 1990 1991 Avalon 24 25 56 43 30 19 Carson 805 759 824 1,008 1,030 1,168 El Segundo 50 35 242 239 155 157 Gardena 328 413 886 908 744 915 Hawthorne 632 764 1,356 1,189 1,339 1,478 Hermosa Beach 71 51 341 324 127 162 Inglewood 954 1,064 1,866 2,000 1,881 2,199 Lawndale 369 359 439 400 340 312 Lomita 78 167 173 159 120 111 Los Angeles* 44,714 47,104 51,482 57,460 63,613 68,655 Manhattan Beach 66 53 517 665 204 277 Palos Verdes Estates 15 14 80 98 13 13 Rancho Palos Verdes 74 89 194 253 69 90 Redondo Beach 217 221 848 952 587 636 Rolling Hills 1 1 6 8 1 0 Rolling Hills Estates 23 16 94 73 16 25 Torrance 437 424 1,479 1 ,532 1,433 1,630 CSU Dominguez Hills 2 2 41 49 7 20 * Includes Harbor City, Playa del Rey, San Pedro, Westchester and Wilmington

Source: California Dept. of Justice