Police Cite Anti-Gang Efforts for 65% Drop in Homicides

Community policing, more officers and a renewed partnership with neighbors are being credited for Anaheim’s 13% drop in crime so far this year, according to a report this week by the Police Department.

The report, which compares this year’s felony crime rate with that for the first eight months of 1995, shows a decrease of 65% in homicides.

Of the 27 homicides committed last year, 10 were gang-related. None of the seven homicides so far this year have been gang-related, police said.

“The numbers are encouraging,” Capt. Frank Fleming said Wednesday. “They demonstrate excellent enforcement work by the gang unit and other units.”

Assaults are down by 25%, burglaries down 11% and car thefts down 23%. As of Sept. 1, rapes were up by six over the same period last year, with 49 reported.

Police Chief Randall Gaston told City Council members that the decline in felony crime reflects a two-year trend.

Community policing programs such as the bicycle patrol and equestrian team have increased police visibility in neighborhoods and “encouraged residents to take proactive steps toward reducing crime,” Gaston said.

“Intervention strategies . . . have created safer neighborhoods,” he said.

Another statistic police pay particular attention to is the number of felonies committed per 100,000 people, Fleming said. In 1990, there were 7,700. This year, the department projects that there will be 5,200.

Councilman Lou Lopez, a veteran member of the Police Department, said the city’s investment in new officers over the past two years is paying off.

“The figures say it all,” Lopez said. “We’ve been able to put more officers on special details to target career criminals, and it’s obviously making a difference.”