Crime Drops, but Murder Rate Jumps in Long Beach

While crime has dropped significantly overall this year in Long Beach, the number of murders is 23.4% higher.

With the release of its third-quarter crime statistics Thursday, the Long Beach Police Department reports that there have been 79 homicides this year compared to 64 at this time last year. During the same period, however, the number of violent crimes overall decreased 13.1%; the number of nonviolent crimes declined by 19.9%.

Since the first quarter when there was an unusually high rate of homicides, even the number of murders has declined this quarter compared to the same period last year, police Chief Robert Luman says. “We are doing well at getting homicide under control. We are making real progress in Long Beach,” he said.

So far this year, the number of rapes has declined slightly--from 133 to 129 reported cases. The number of robberies and aggravated assaults are down significantly. Last year at this time there were 2,132 robberies; this year 1,817. Aggravated assault dropped from 2,006 to 1,743.

Since 1992, Long Beach has experienced a steady and dramatic reduction in overall crime. In the last four years, for example, car break-ins have plummeted 46.3%, car thefts 25.4%.

The trend continues this year with double-digit reductions in several categories including car theft, residential burglaries and grand theft. Last year at this time, for example, there were 4,057 car thefts; this year to date 3,240.

Luman says the Police Department’s partnership with the community is contributing to improvements in public safety.

“We go to more community meetings and get a lot more calls from the community than we used to,” he said. “People are more comfortable talking to us. We now redeploy officers once a year rather than once a month. We are getting to know the neighborhoods and the people better. The officers have a stronger sense of belonging to their beat.”