Valley's Violent Crime Rate Drops Sharply : Law enforcement: Police say quake, gang truce spur decline. Homicides decrease by half in early '94.

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS

Aug. 5, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Violent crime in the San Fernando Valley plunged dramatically during the first six months of the year, and Los Angeles Police Department investigators attribute the decrease to the Northridge earthquake, a gang truce and money made available for additional officers.

The most striking reduction was in the number of homicides, which dropped by just over 50%--from 77 in the first half of 1993 to 38 in the first six months of this year, according to an LAPD analysis of the city’s major crimes.

The biggest decline in homicides came in the areas patrolled by the Van Nuys and Foothill divisions, while Devonshire had the largest decrease in robberies and North Hollywood had the largest reduction in rapes and aggravated assaults.

Besides the drop in homicides, reported rapes were down 6%, robberies decreased 18% and aggravated assaults fell 8%, according to the report.

Citywide, violent crimes fell 15%--compared with 12% overall in the Valley--while homicides citywide dropped 28%.

Leaders of neighborhood anti-crime groups gave credit for the change to community-based policing.

“Crime is down and that’s good,” said Harry Coleman, president of the North Hills Coordinating Council, a neighborhood improvement group. “It’s deteriorated to the point where people in the San Fernando Valley have come together and said, ‘Hey, we’re not going to take it anymore.’ ”

Among law enforcement officials, there was no consensus on reasons for the Valley’s 12% drop-off in violent crime, but most detectives cited the Jan. 17 earthquake and a nine-month truce among Latino gang members in the northeast Valley.

“In Devonshire (the northwest Valley’s police division), the big reason is the earthquake,” Detective Tom Broad said. “It displaced a lot of people from apartment buildings in gang-infested areas, (so) they’ve had to go somewhere else.”

In the northeast Valley’s Foothill Division--where homicides dropped from 24 to seven--investigators said the gang truce has been an overriding influence on the drop in shootings and other crimes there.

“That has probably been the biggest factor in the number of homicides,” Foothill Lt. Joseph Garcia said.

Other officers, however, said the drop was attributable to city funds that have been used to pay for police overtime.

“There’s other factors, I’m sure, but the biggest reason is that we were able to put more people out there,” said Lt. Fred Tuller, who heads the Valley’s CRASH anti-gang units. “Of course, we can’t add more officers right now . . . but offering more overtime has had the same effect.”

In addition, Tuller said police have been targeting high-crime areas--a tactic that has also helped curtail violent crime.

Residents of some crime-plagued areas, however, said that even though violent crime has dropped in their neighborhoods in the past six months, drug dealing has become more prevalent.

Some blame the truce, which they claim has freed gang members to openly deal drugs without fear of reprisal from rival gangs.

“They’re not killing each other, but they are still carrying weapons and their drug sales are higher,” said community activist Paula Rangel, who said her neighborhood near Sepulveda Boulevard fills almost nightly with a parade of passing motorists and 25 to 30 dealers who sell them crack cocaine and other drugs on the street.

“Granted, we have not had a killing, and I give them a lot of credit,” Rangel said, “but they’re not doing enough to (stop) drug sales.”

Homicide detectives say the Valley’s low number of slayings since January is reminiscent of days gone by--long gone by.

“There have been no gang-against-gang murders this year,” said Broad, of the Devonshire Division. “And that just doesn’t happen . . . not that I remember offhand anyway.”

Still, some investigators adopted a more measured stance, saying there is no accounting for the highs and lows of crime, including the recent downward trend.

“It runs in periods,” said Larry Kagele, a West Valley robbery detective, speaking specifically about the decline in robberies. “There’s nothing you can really attribute it to, except maybe officers working overtime and making good arrests.”

Decline in Violent Crime

The San Fernando Valley’s violent crimes during the first six months of 1994:

Crime:Decline

Homicide: 50%

Rape: 6%

Robbery: 18%

Aggravated Assault: 8%

Total violent crime: 12%

Largest Declines by LAPD Division

Homicide

Foothill Division 71%

Rape