PALOS VERDES ESTATES : Police Report Decline in Felonies, Other Crime

Serious crime has dropped so dramatically in the city that Police Lt. Ed Jaakola jokes that he may soon be out of a job.

Jaakola, who has just compiled the city’s 1994 crime statistics, said the number of reported felonies such as murder, rape and assault dropped by 32%.

Although the hilltop city of 14,000 is not known as being crime-plagued, Jaakola said, the drop is still significant. The city reported no murders, no rapes and only one robbery. “That’s pretty nice numbers,” he said.

In 1993, the city reported zero murders, two rapes and no robberies. The small numbers provide for large statistical changes: The number of reported rapes went down 200%, and robberies went up 100%.

Drops in other serious crimes included burglary and larceny--theft from non-residential buildings such as cars and front lawns. From 1993 and 1994, burglaries dropped 33% from 84 to 56, and larceny dropped 39% from 141 to 86.

Incidents of vandalism, the city’s most common crime, dropped from 140 cases in 1993 to 99 last year, Jaakola said.

Jaakola cited the department’s ability to spot would-be criminals as one reason for the drop in crime. “We arrest more people up here for burglary tools than we do for burglary,” he said. “If a crook drives through Palos Verdes Estates at night, they’re going to get noticed.”

Jaakola also praised the city’s Neighborhood Watch program, which has 1,000 members.