BURBANK : City’s Crime Rate Exceeds Glendale’s

For the first time in years, Burbank had a higher crime rate than neighboring Glendale, according to figures released this week for 1993.

The per capita crime rate in Burbank was 48 crimes per 1,000 residents compared with 44 crimes per 1,000 residents in Glendale.

But Glendale has a larger population, so the number of total crimes committed in Glendale was higher than in Burbank.

Altogether, 8,215 crimes were committed in Glendale last year, compared with 4,706 in Burbank. In 1992, 8,282 crimes were committed in Glendale, and 4,648 crimes were committed in Burbank.

The crime rate statistics are compiled from the FBI Crime Index, which counts seven different crimes: murder; rape; robbery; aggravated assault; burglary; theft; and auto theft. The index does not give more weight to more serious or violent crimes, so a shoplifting has the same impact on the statistics as a murder.

In Burbank, serious, violent crimes declined in 1993 while theft was the only category that increased, said Burbank Police Capt. Gordon Bowers.

Murders dropped from seven in 1992 to five in 1993. Rapes dropped from 22 in 1992 to 16 in 1993. Robberies declined from 226 to 209. Aggravated assaults dropped from 312 to 263. Burglaries dropped from 764 to 665, and auto thefts were down from 764 in 1992 to 665 in 1993.

Only the number of thefts in Burbank increased, from 2,261 in 1992 to 2,556 last year, Bowers said. That may be because of an increase in retail stores in Burbank, he said.

The total number of crimes in 1993 increased by 58 crimes, or 1%, Bowers said.

Burbank police are looking at special programs such as the downtown summer bicycle patrols and other ways of giving special attention in the community to fight crime, Bowers said.

In addition to Glendale, Burbank also compared its crime figures with Torrance, Pasadena, Inglewood, Los Angeles and Santa Monica. A six-year average of crime rates from 1988 to the present showed Burbank with the lowest rate, with 45.22 crimes per 1,000 residents.

The other cities’ crime rate average over the six years ranged from 49 per 1,000 in Glendale to 110 per 1,000 in Santa Monica. The crime rate in Los Angeles during the past six years averaged 92 per 1,000 residents.