Most Crimes Decreased in ‘92, Police Say : Statistics: Although felonies involving property are down, those against persons have increased in Glendale.

Police in Glendale and La Canada Flintridge are reporting a drop in most crimes from 1991 to 1992, including fewer burglaries, arsons and thefts.

But Jack Altounian, administrative crime analyst for the Glendale Police Department, said personal crimes rose in his jurisdiction, with felony assaults up almost 24%.

“The general trend in the state for 1992 is that personal crimes have gone up and property crimes have gone down,” Altounian said. “Because of the recession, we’d expect both to go up.”

La Canada Flintridge, a high-income area of about 20,000 people that traditionally reports considerably less crime than many of its neighbors, did not report a similar rise in felony assaults.

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Crime statistics showed that there were no murders in La Canada Flintridge in 1992, compared to one murder a year earlier. One rape was reported in each of those years. Twelve robberies were reported in 1992, compared to 18 in 1991, a 33% decrease.

Glendale, with a population of 185,000, recorded 373 robberies in 1992, compared to 398 in 1991, a 6.3% drop. There were seven killings in 1992, compared to eight in 1991.

Forcible and attempted rape rose slightly in Glendale, with 38 incidents reported in 1992 compared to 36 in 1991.

Both cities reported declines in burglaries. Glendale Police recorded 1,756 burglaries in 1992, compared to 2,025 in 1991, a drop of 13%. La Canada Flintridge reported 151 burglaries in 1992, compared to 225 a year earlier, a decline of almost 33%.

Lt. Bob Dixon of the La Canada Flintridge Police Department attributed the decline in many crime rates to the increasing savvy of area residents in preventing such incidents from occurring.

“A lot of people are becoming more aware of things they can do for themselves to prevent crimes,” Dixon said.

Arson in Glendale also declined slightly, from 48 incidents in 1991 to 47 in 1992, while La Canada Flintridge reported a 50% drop in arsons from 14 in 1991 to seven this year.

Grand theft, when property valued at more than $400 has been stolen, was also down in both cities.

In Glendale, 790 incidents of grand theft were reported in 1992, compared to 955 in 1991, a drop of 17%. In La Canada Flintridge, grand thefts dropped from 62 incidents in 1991 to 56 in 1991, a 9% decline.

Petty thefts also declined, by 5% in Glendale and 7% in La Canada Flintridge. Glendale recorded 3,808 petty thefts in 1991 compared to 3,617 in 1992. La Canada Flintridge had 102 incidents in 1991 and 94 last year.

Both cities also reported a drop in vehicle thefts. La Canada Flintridge recorded 33 thefts in 1992, compared to 39 in 1991, a drop of 15%. Glendale Police reported 1,403 vehicle thefts in 1992, compared to 1,751 a year earlier, down almost 20%.