Santa Ana Rate of Prosecutions Among Lowest

Among large U.S. cities, Santa Ana stands among the 10 least successful in bringing violent crimes to prosecution, according to a review of FBI statistics.

The city of nearly 300,000 ranked sixth in highest percentage of unresolved cases in 1994. The Las Vegas metropolitan area topped the list, followed by Detroit, Buffalo, N.Y., San Francisco and Miami. Sacramento was No. 7, and was the only other California city among the top 10.

Santa Ana police officials say the statistics don’t tell the whole story of Orange County’s most populous city, which has more gangs and murders than any other in the county.

“It’s just a war out there,” Chief Paul M. Walters said Monday. “Gang-related crimes are the most difficult to solve and prosecute. Often the witnesses, and in some cases the victims, are very uncooperative and unwilling to work with us.”

The chief said that crimes involving gangs generally take longer to investigate and clear than other offenses. He also cited the city’s large transient population as a hindrance, and noted that Santa Ana currently has more than 50 outstanding arrest warrants--more than any other city in the county--for murder suspects.

“It’s not like we don’t know who it is, it’s that we haven’t caught them,” Walters said.

A review of FBI statistics showed 3,079 violent crimes reported in Santa Ana in 1994, with 814 cases cleared, meaning at least one suspect was arrested and was being prosecuted.

The arrests equaled 26% of Santa Ana’s cases, according to the statistical review by the Associated Press. The study included U.S. cities with populations of 250,000 or more. FBI officials confirmed Monday that the figures are accurate.

Authorities define violent crimes as murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery.

For Alfonso Olivos, the unsolved murder of his brother is a haunting reminder of the family’s loss.

“There’s no closure,” said Olivos, 53, of Irvine, whose 32-year-old brother was gunned down by a stranger nearly seven years ago at the drive-through entrance of a Santa Ana taco shop.

About two years after the shooting, Olivos said, the family received a letter from police saying the investigation was being closed. The killing, together with an accidental death of another younger brother a year earlier, pushed Olivos’ parents to sell off the family business of theaters.

“They just had a what’s-the-use attitude,” Alfonso Olivos said of his parents.

Members of Los Amigos, a Latino community organization in Orange County, have repeatedly criticized Santa Ana police in recent months, contending that investigators do not pursue gang-related cases as rigorously as other crimes.

“We’re worried that if there is a gang tie, it lessens the interest,” said Amin David of Los Amigos, whose group held vigils for about 70 homicide victims in Santa Ana last year. “We’re worried that the mentality of the department might be that these individuals are expendable.”

Police officials said there is no validity to David’s claim.

“Investigators try as hard as they can, given many, many obstacles they are faced with,” said Lt. Bob Helton.

Although Santa Ana’s rate of violent crimes cleared was among the lowest in the nation in 1994, its overall crime rate dropped in 1995.

The number of violent crimes decreased by 18% from 1994 to 1995, and gang-related violence was down about 5%, Helton said.

Hugh Foster, director of the criminal justice training center at Golden West College’s Police Academy, said he considers the drop in crime more significant than the clearance rate for the previous year.

“The important thing is that the crime rate has gone down in Santa Ana,” he said. “As far as the clearing rate, that is more a reflection of specific problems in Santa Ana rather than the police’s ability to solve them.”

Foster also cited the city’s transient population as a problem for police.

“When you have a lot of the people committing crime who are not residents of community, the statistical data is going to reflect that,” Foster said. “You probably see the same cycle effect with beach or recreational communities, where at certain times of the year, you tend to have more nonpermanent type of individuals.”

David of Los Amigos said the failure to make more arrests may jeopardize efforts to prevent crime.

“Deterrence of criminal activity is, in part, based on the clearance of cases,” David said. “The consequences can be most ominous when those cases aren’t cleared. A person who is thinking about committing a crime may think, ‘Hey, I can get away with it.’ ”

John Brewster, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana, said violence, especially gang-related offenses, is directly correlated with the population of teenagers. The city is one of the youngest in America, Brewster said.

“Violence has become more of an alternative to solve problems among kids than it ever was before,” said Brewster, whose club is located in an area where 26,000 youngsters younger than 17 live.

“When you’re talking about crime . . . what drives crime tends to be youth,” he said. “Anywhere you have a high concentration of youth, you tend to have a high number of crimes.”

Costa Mesa Police Chief David L. Snowden, however, cautioned Monday that crime statistics must be analyzed with skepticism because there are many factors affecting the numbers that could go unreported.

“Some cities are more aggressive than others in reporting what goes on,” he said.

The FBI is in the process of trying to change the system to make it more consistent among departments, Snowden said.

“It’s tough to throw on them that they’ve got the lowest clearance rate,” Snowden said of police in neighboring Santa Ana. “Especially with the victims and witnesses they’re having to deal with.”

Times staff writer Lee Romney contributed to this report.

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Clearance Wanting

During 1994, Santa Ana had the sixth-worst clearance rate for violent crimes among U.S. cities with at least 250,000 people. A clearance occurs when someone has been arrested and prosecution begun. Violent crimes include homicide, robbery, rape and aggravated assault:

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Number Percent City Population Crimes cleared cleared Las Vegas metro 779,210 9,421 1,946 20.7% Detroit 1,022,283 27,483 5,871 21.4% Buffalo, N.Y. 324,354 6,893 1,508 21.9% San Francisco 741,568 10,837 2,659 24.5% Miami 379,980 12,974 3,334 25.7% Santa Ana 293,021 3,079 814 26.4% Sacramento 389,458 4,698 1,290 27.5% Newark, N.J. 271,025 10,409 3,012 28.9% Baltimore 739,180 20,951 6,146 29.3% Louisville, Ky. 276,307 2,777 834 30.0%

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Source: FBI