Crime Rate Down and Arrests Up Last Year

Crime in the city dropped last year in most categories, with an overall 18.5% reduction in major offenses, Police Chief David S. Barr said.

Barr delivered the city’s crime portrait in an annual report he presented recently to the City Council. He said the 1996 decrease in crime was accompanied by a 16% increase in arrests citywide during the year.

Overall, last year was a “very significant improvement over 1995’s crime figures,” Barr’s written report said. He added that community involvement has been key to the Police Department’s success.

“We learned long ago that our effectiveness in providing police service is tied directly to our relationship with the community we serve,” Barr said. “We are partners in the quality of life issues facing this city, and communication is the key to that partnership. Our involvement in community activities as participants in the partnership is an integral part of that communication process.”

In major crimes, Barr said there were increases in only two categories: rape and robbery. In 1995 the city had no rape cases, but there were two in 1996. There were 22 robberies in the city in 1995, compared with 25 last year. La Palma had no murders either in 1995 or 1996.

There were decreases in all other categories of crime. The number of assaults dropped from 156 in 1995 to 101 last year; burglaries from 129 to 112; larceny from 396 to 331; auto theft from 155 to 132; and arson from nine cases to two.

“We’re pleased with the overall decrease in crime and the sizable increase in arrests,” Barr told the council.