Valley-Area Crime Rate in Decline, FBI Says

Crime figures in the San Fernando Valley dropped dramatically during the first half of 1997, in keeping with the continuing national trend of falling crime rates, according to the FBI’s annual crime report, which compares figures for the first six months of the year against statistics for the same period in 1996.

The crime report, released Sunday, showed that the biggest declines in the Valley area occurred in Santa Clarita, Glendale, Burbank and Van Nuys, where the report showed the number of crimes decreasing between 12% and 19%, compared with a 4% decline nationwide. The steep drop made Santa Clarita the city with the third-fewest crimes in the nation among communities of at least 100,000 people.

Santa Clarita Mayor Clyde Smyth Sunday credited his city’s good showing to a continuing commitment to vigilant police patrols and effective education programs for youngsters. Among them are the Substance Abuse Narcotics Education (SANE) and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programs, he said.

“There is never any one thing that you do that is going to do the trick,” Smyth said. “It’s like growing a crop. You have to put the seeds in the ground and watch them grow.”

Smyth also pointed to the fact that many Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who patrol the city also live there.

“It’s kind of like hometown policing,” the mayor said.

Crime was reduced throughout the Valley, though less dramatically. In the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Division, crime fell almost 7%. The West Valley Division reported a 10% decline while the Devonshire and Foothill divisions reported drops of 3% and 2%, respectively.

In the West Valley Division, police say they have been able to get a better handle on crime by paying more attention to early signs of potential trends.

For example, Sgt. Dan Mastro said Sunday that police recently discovered that many burglaries in the area were committed by suspects who were getting away on bicycles.

Last week, Mastro said police arrested a suspected burglar on a bicycle behind a shopping center in Reseda. Inside the man’s backpack police found a set of “burglary tools,” a pair of night-vision goggles and nine stolen credit cards. The tools were purchased with one of the stolen credit cards, he said.

In the city of Los Angeles as a whole, crime slid 16% during the first six months of the year. Murders decreased 27% and rapes 10%.

Among low-crime communities of at least 100,000 people, Santa Clarita was bested only by the Ventura County cities of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, which placed first and second on the list. They have been two of the safest cities in the nation in recent years, with Simi Valley ranking as the lowest-crime city in 1993 and 1996, while Thousand Oaks ranked first in 1994 and 1995.

Crime increased in both Lancaster and Palmdale, with Lancaster’s total jumping 8% and Palmdale’s 5%. The increase in Palmdale was mostly due to a surge in auto thefts. In the past year, such crimes there rose 28%.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Handley, who works in the Antelope Valley station, said part of the rise can be attributed to a dramatic population increase in Palmdale and Lancaster.

According to a new U.S. Census report, Palmdale has been the fastest-growing city in the nation, with the population in creasing by 51% between 1990 and 1996.

Still, Handley said he hasn’t noticed a dramatic change in crime levels in the Antelope Valley. “There is no real panic on the part of law enforcement,” he said.

Although overall crime was down in Glendale, it increased in one major category: The number of forcible rapes rose from six cases during the first half of 1996 to 14 in 1997.

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Martin is a Times staff writer and Becker is a correspondent.

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