Crime Rate Is Down in ’94 : Survey: The decrease is due to a sharp dip in burglaries and car thefts. Santa Ana, Costa Mesa post the biggest declines.

Orange County residents, who cited crime as a paramount concern in a recent Los Angeles Times poll, had some good news and bad news Tuesday: The state attorney general’s office reported that property crime here decreased, but violent crime rose in the first six months of 1994.

For Orange County’s eight largest cities and unincorporated areas, which are included in the survey, reported crime overall dropped 7.6% during the period. However, that decline largely is due to a sharp dip in burglaries and car thefts. Violent crime--murder, rape, robbery and assault--increased almost 4% in the county.

A poll of county residents conducted recently by the Los Angeles Times found that 56% believe that crime, gangs, drugs, graffiti or inadequate police service are the most important problems facing the county.

The study compared the first six months of 1993 and 1994. Statewide, the figures show the number of reported crimes, including homicides, dropped by 7.7% in the most populous cities. It is the first decline in the homicide rate since 1987.

In Orange County, the most dramatic changes were reported in Costa Mesa, where serious crime declined 12.5%, and Santa Ana, where crime was down 11.3%. The crime index is based on the reported numbers of homicides, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and car thefts.

“We’re certainly very pleased with it,” said Capt. Bruce R. Carlson, Santa Ana’s acting police chief. “It follows up on a 9-plus percent decrease in 1993. We’re seeing that downward trend continuing.”

Carlson said a combination of increased police activity, citizen involvement and participation of other city departments was responsible for the drop in reported crime.

“Our focus on gangs in Santa Ana has caused a reduction in some of the crime categories,” he said.

“It’s gratifying to see that decrease has taken place,” he said. “Some of that is attributable to some strong neighborhood associations we have in Santa Ana, to community-oriented policing. Citizens have been working very closely with the Police Department to get long-term strategy to prevent and solve crimes.”

While property crimes in Santa Ana were down more than 15%, the number of murders increased from 34 in the first six months of 1993 to 39 during the same period in 1994.

Not all cities experienced the same sharp declines as Santa Ana and Costa Mesa in overall crime. Huntington Beach reported a 1.9% crime decrease; Irvine’s was down 2%; the Sheriff’s Department down 8.8%, and Orange down 3.8%.

Clustered in between were Anaheim, down 5.3%; Fullerton, down 8.4%, and Garden Grove, down 8.9%.

State Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, who is up for reelection this fall, attributed the drop to the deterrent effects of the “three strikes and you’re out” law, adopted in March, and other tough provisions such as a focus on incarceration.

“I don’t want to fool anyone--we still have a major crime problem in our state,” Lungren said. “But this shows some things are working and we can’t throw out those things.”

George Urch, a spokesman for Lungren’s opponent, former federal prosecutor Tom Umberg, dismissed the report as an election-year gimmick. Pointing out that crime rose in Lungren’s first year in office, Urch said: “I don’t think anybody’s buying it. Every time you pick up the paper there are crimes in your neighborhood that weren’t there a few years ago.”

Lungren and a spokesman for Gov. Pete Wilson--who is in a heated race with state Treasurer Kathleen Brown--said the public’s fear stems from the sense that crime recently has become more random.

“Even if the numbers are looking a little bit better, we’ve got a long way to go,” said Wilson campaign spokesman Dan Schnur.

The Brown and Umberg campaigns discounted the significance of the six-month study. Brown campaign spokesman John Whitehurst said that much of the drop in crime took place in Los Angeles County, and that other counties and cities across the state suffered increases. “If you took Los Angeles County out of the equation, crime would have gone way up,” he said.

In fact, preliminary calculations show that without the crime figures reported by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles Police Department and other city police departments in the county, California would have a 3% decrease in reported crimes. The study surveys the state’s 67 largest law enforcement jurisdictions, containing two-thirds of California’s population.

Whitehurst repeated a refrain of the Brown campaign in challenging the crime statistics: “Do you feel safer now than you did four years ago?”

Wilson spokesman Schnur said things would look worse if Brown had been in charge over the past four years.

“Pete Wilson has fought tooth and nail to convince the Democratic Legislature to pass a series of tough-on-crime measures that they wouldn’t have otherwise,” Schnur said. “It’s hard to tell how much Kathleen Brown would have put into those efforts.”

Crime Decline Is Property Driven

Reported crime in Orange County’s largest cities and unincorporated areas dropped 7.6% during the first six months of the year, fueled by a 10.9% decline in burglary and auto theft. The number of violent crimes actually increased 3.7%. Here’s a city-by-city look. Percent change for totals smaller than 50 not reported:

VIOLENT CRIMES

Jurisdiction Year Total Homicide Forcible rape Anaheim 1993 4,782 12 35 1994 4,528 13 49 % change -5.3 - - Costa Mesa 1993 1,379 2 15 1994 1,206 2 11 % change -12.5 - - Fullerton 1993 1,640 2 21 1994 1,503 4 18 % change -8.4 - - Garden Grove 1993 2,283 8 17 1994 2,080 2 20 % change -8.9 - - Huntington 1993 2,030 0 19 Beach 1994 1,992 3 16 % change -1.9 - - Irvine 1993 781 1 7 1994 765 1 7 % change -2.0 - - Orange 1993 1,499 1 19 1994 1,442 4 17 % change -3.8 - - Santa Ana 1993 5,326 34 46 1994 4,724 39 37 % change -11.3 - - Orange 1993 1,221 3 9 County 1994 1,113 1 15 Sheriff % change -8.8 - -

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VIOLENT CRIMES

Jurisdiction Year Total Robbery Aggravated assault Anaheim 1993 4,782 467 463 1994 4,528 472 593 % change 1.1 28.1 Costa Mesa 1993 1,379 100 120 1994 1,206 91 88 % change -12.5 -9.0 -26.7 Fullerton 1993 1,640 125 162 1994 1,503 104 134 % change -8.4 -16.8 -17.3 Garden Grove 1993 2,283 220 219 1994 2,080 200 257 % change -8.9 -9.1 17.4 Huntington 1993 2,030 87 346 Beach 1994 1,992 80 440 % change -1.9 -8.0 27.2 Irvine 1993 781 22 40 1994 765 22 46 % change -2.0 - - Orange 1993 1,499 118 137 1994 1,442 126 152 % change -3.8 6.8 10.9 Santa Ana 1993 5,326 933 570 1994 4,724 921 573 % change -11.3 -1.3 .5 Orange 1993 1,221 52 242 County 1994 1,113 55 238 Sheriff % change -8.8 5.8 -1.7

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PROPERTY CRIMES

Jurisdiction Year Total Burglary Motor vehicle theft Anaheim 1993 4,782 1,940 1,865 1994 4,528 13 1,769 1,632 % change -5.3 -8.8 -12.5 Costa Mesa 1993 1,379 676 466 1994 1,206 2 583 431 % change -12.5 -13.8 -7.5 Fullerton 1993 1,640 683 647 1994 1,503 4 623 620 % change -8.4 -8.8 -4.2 Garden Grove 1993 2,283 862 957 1994 2,080 2 823 778 % change -8.9 -4.5 -18.7 Huntington 1993 2,030 981 597 Beach 1994 1,992 869 584 % change -1.9 -11.4 -2.2 Irvine 1993 781 487 224 1994 765 456 233 % change -2.0 -6.4 4.0 Orange 1993 1,499 723 501 1994 1,442 4 613 530 % change -3.8 -15.2 5.8 Santa Ana 1993 5,326 1,578 2,165 1994 4,724 39 1,322 1,832 % change -11.3 -16.2 -15.4 Orange 1993 1,221 556 359 County 1994 1,113 515 289 Sheriff % change -8.8 -7.4 -19.5

Source: California Department of Justice