ANAHEIM : Report on Fighting Crime Is Released

In response to neighborhood complaints, city officials announced a new long-range strategy to battle crime along Beach Boulevard in West Anaheim.

The cornerstones of the strategy are policing more aggressively, offering constructive alternatives to youths, cleaning up the area and encouraging the formation of local neighborhood groups. The policy was made public Tuesday in an 11-page report that refers to about 10 blocks along Beach Boulevard between Knott and Magnolia avenues.

“As the severity of the area’s problems has grown, so has the need to develop a long-term strategy to resolve these problems,” City Manager James D. Ruth said in the report.

The strategy followed a July meeting between city officials and the Beach Boulevard Concerned Citizens Action Group about deteriorating conditions in the area. Group members complained about gangs, drug activity and prostitution.

Two major police sweeps this summer resulted in more than 100 arrests for prostitution and drug violations in the area. Police have identified 12 street gangs that operate around Beach Boulevard.

Ruth said the most important element to turning back crime would be community participation. The city soon will implement community-based policing and will lease a community resource center in the area.

Other improvement measures include new lighting, street reconstruction along Lincoln and Crescent avenues, stepping up code enforcement efforts and encouraging young people to use libraries and athletic facilities.