Study Finds Drop in Some Major Crimes : Statistics: Community policing is partly credited for the reduction in serious offenses.

Reversing a large increase in some serious crimes in the San Fernando Valley in 1991, Valley crime dropped significantly in many categories last year or at worst remained stable, the Los Angeles Police Department reported Thursday.

Homicides, which had increased 17% in the Valley in 1991, dropped by 5%. Rapes dropped by 14% for the year, compared with a 15% increase the year before. And burglaries, which had risen 14% in 1991, increased only 1% during the past year.

Police attributed at least some of the improvements to the innovative community-based policing program instituted about 18 months ago by Deputy Police Chief Mark A. Kroeker, who commands the five Valley police divisions.

Kroeker and others said the Valleywide program has been especially effective in reducing repressible crimes such as burglary and robbery, which police can stop before or while they happen.

“Overall, throughout the Valley, we went down, which is quite an accomplishment in these times, I’ll tell you,” said Detective Tom Broad, homicide coordinator for the Police Department’s Devonshire Division, which saw reported homicides cut almost in half last year, compared to a more than 50% increase the year before.

The statistics are especially important because of widespread complaints by police officers and community activists alike that the community-based policing program could make more Valley residents crime victims. Even Kroeker has conceded that the program’s central feature--taking some officers off routine patrol--could increase crime at first.

But Kroeker, some of his officers and some in the community said Thursday that the statistics show the program is even more of a success than they had hoped.

“I’m really pleased with the stats--they are very encouraging,” Kroeker said. “They show that we’re heading in the right direction.”

Under the community-policing plan, designated officers work with community activists to get residents involved in fighting crime by reporting suspicious activity. Kroeker said the thousands of Valley residents who participate in the program deserve much of the credit for the changes reflected in the year-end statistics.

“The fears were that response times would be slower and that crime and traffic accidents would increase under community policing. That has not happened,” Kroeker said.

“While we have intensified community policing and built support for it, and at a time when we have gone down in numbers of officers, our crime has remained relatively constant.”

Said Lt. Ron McCall, acting commanding officer of Devonshire detectives: “We’d like to attribute any good thing to community-based policing, but it’s hard to calculate its impact. But absolutely, it has helped with burglaries and other crimes. It has proved it works.”

In the Devonshire Division, reported robberies actually increased 11% last year, mostly due to an epidemic of holdups by crack addicts, McCall said. But the figure reflects a vast improvement over 1991, when robberies increased 66% in the division.

Robbery also increased in the North Hollywood Division, by 16%, and by 7% in the West Valley.

But it either decreased or stayed the same in the Foothill and Van Nuys divisions. In the Van Nuys Division, which usually reports the largest number of robberies in the Valley, the total was down 15%, compared to a 39% increase from 1990 to 1991, the statistics show.

The number of burglaries, the other major repressible crime, dropped in Foothill and remained virtually the same in Devonshire and West Valley. There was a slight increase, 4%, in Devonshire, and a 10% increase in Van Nuys.

Although the homicide rate dropped significantly in Devonshire and North Hollywood, it jumped by 24% in Van Nuys and the West Valley. Kroeker said he was concerned about the numbers, particularly since they reflected an apparent increase in gang violence among the estimated 13,000 Valley gang members.

There were a record-breaking 52 gang-related homicides in the Valley in 1992, up from 48 the year before and 36 in 1990, said Detective Bill Humphry, head of the Police Department’s Valley anti-gang unit known as CRASH.

“The sign of the times is unfortunately that gang activity is on the rise everywhere, and unfortunately, we don’t have the numbers of officers to target the gangs,” he said. “There are too many bad guys and not enough good guys.”

Kroeker said that the gang activity is probably his biggest concern, and that the department is working actively with the FBI and CRASH, which stands for Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, to combat gang-related crime.

Some of the successes in that area include the capture of several gang members suspected of the Halloween night killing of a popular Blythe Street apartment building owner and the work of the Jeopardy Program, in which Valley police officers work with youths considered liable to join gangs, Kroeker said.

In the West Valley, a usually quiet and upscale suburban area, the 21 homicides reported last year were up from 17 the year before, and four of them were gang-motivated, said Detective Rick Swanston, homicide coordinator for the division. The numbers of killings, he said, reflected an almost minuscule rise in domestic violence disputes, robberies and drug use.

“When you’re dealing with such low numbers,” Swanston said, “it doesn’t take too much to make it jump.”

In the Foothill Division, a high-crime area that includes Pacoima, the number of reported rapes and burglaries dropped sharply, while robberies and aggravated assaults remained the same. “This is a testimony to the success of our community-policing program and our work with the community,” said Capt. Tim McBride, commanding officer of the Foothill Division.

The neighborhood outreach programs also have been important in allaying residents’ fears of the department itself in the wake of the beating of motorist Rodney G. King, who was clubbed and kicked by Foothill officers in Lake View Terrace, said some community activists.

“Anyone will tell you, ‘hallelujah,’ ” Foothill area community activist Irene Tovar said of the statistics.

“There is no doubt in my mind that community policing has had a great impact. Through that, and our partnership with the Police Department, we have developed more and more Neighborhood Watch groups in which residents become part of the crime repression and reporting effort.

“But we have to remain vigilant,” said Tovar, a member of the Foothill Community Advisory Committee, which was created after the King beating. “There are still gangs and drug pushing and other problems we have to deal with.”

Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowner Assn., also said the statistics are an indication that community policing is working “and that the police are becoming more effective.”

“But what is important is whether the people in the Valley feel safer now compared to a year ago, and the answer is no,” said Close, whose organization represents residents in both the Van Nuys and North Hollywood divisions. Close, who lobbied hard last year for an unsuccessful ballot measure to raise funds to hire more police officers, said there is a palpable lack of feeling of security among Valley residents.

“If we had more officers,” he said, “maybe there would be more reduction in crime, and more of a sense of security. But the numbers seem to be a good start.”

Major Crime

Year-end statistics for crimes reported in the five Los Angeles police divisions in the San Fernando Valley show some dramatic decreases compared to 1991. DEVONSHIRE

1991 1992 % of change Homicide 32 18 -43.7% Rape 75 75 0% Robbery 1,224 1,356 +10.7% Aggravated assault 1,596 1,667 +4.4% Burglary 3,513 3,488 -0.7% Car theft 3,914 4,241 +8.3% TOTAL CHANGE* +3.9%

FOOTHILL

1991 1992 % of change Homicide 36 41 +13.9% Rape 124 95 -23.4% Robbery 1,312 1,319 +0.5% Aggravated assault 2,730 2,737 +0.3% Burglary 3,210 2,866 -10.7% Car theft 3,476 3,282 -5.6% TOTAL CHANGE* -6.6%

NORTH HOLLYWOOD

1991 1992 % of change Homicide 33 23 -30.3% Rape 93 64 -31.2% Robbery 1,276 1,474 +15.5% Aggravated assault 2,099 2,144 +2.1% Burglary 3,045 3,169 +4.1% Car theft 4,789 4,684 -2.2% TOTAL CHANGE* -0.8%

VAN NUYS

1991 1992 % of change Homicide 33 41 24.2% Rape 146 136 -6.8% Robbery 1,945 1,652 -15.1% Aggravated assault 2,697 2,633 -2.4% Burglary 3,682 4,061 +10.3% Car theft 5,894 5,707 -3.2% TOTAL CHANGE* -0.8%

WEST VALLEY

1991 1992 % of change Homicide 17 21 +23.5% Rape 102 95 -6.9% Robbery 1,331 1,429 +7.4% Aggravated assault 1,921 1,885 -1.9% Burglary 4,346 4,345 0% Car theft 4,399 4,462 +1.4% TOTAL CHANGE* -0.5%

* Includes other reported crimes, such as theft from autos and theft from people.

Source: Los Angeles Police Department