L.A. Crime Rate Falls 15% in FBI Midyear Figures

Serious crimes in Los Angeles plummeted 15.2% during the first six months of this year, more than triple the national decline, according to FBI statistics released Sunday.

The new midyear Uniform Crime Reports showed that homicides in Los Angeles fell 26.5%; rapes dropped 9.5%; robberies were off 19.1%, and aggravated assaults dipped 6.9%.

Most other communities in Southern California reported substantial drop-offs as well.

Across the country, serious crimes reported to police declined 4% during the first half of this year compared to the first six months of 1996, the FBI said. Murders and robberies were down 9%.

The reduction in crime, part of a trend that began several years ago, took place in all regions of the country, with the West and Midwest each down 5%, the Northeast down 6% and the South down 3%. Additionally, the nation’s major cities--those with populations exceeding 250,000--registered an overall decline in serious crimes of 6%.

The FBI defines serious crimes as those involving violence--such as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault--and those involving property--burglary, larceny/theft and motor vehicle theft.

The overall drop in violent crime for the first half of 1997 was 5%; the dip in property crime was 4%.

In a statement, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno said, “Crime has been falling for several years because policymakers, law enforcement and ordinary Americans are coming together to do the right thing.”

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She listed several factors as contributing to this trend, ranging from an increase in community policing to the building of more prisons “for people who deserve to be in jail for a long time.”

Other reasons she cited included:

* An emphasis by police, prosecutors, courts and the medical community on countering violence against women and domestic violence.

* A higher priority among law enforcement officials in attacking drug violence.

* An aging of the crack market. Acknowledging that she was speculating, Reno said: “It may be that enough people have realized how dangerous crack is, so that the second generation coming along has just rejected” the drug.

At the Los Angeles Police Department, Lt. Anthony Alba said: “We feel elated about the continuing decrease in crime,” noting that violent crimes have been dropping locally for at least the last five years. “We attribute a lot of [the success] to the partnership we have with the community.”

LAPD officials said they hope that a new style of policing being adopted throughout the department will lead to even greater crime reductions. Based on a successful model in New York City, LAPD officials have started using up-to-the-minute crime statistics to identify problem areas and better deploy resources.

Of the 15 cities in Los Angeles County with populations over 100,000, only Lancaster and Palmdale bucked the national trend and registered an increase in serious crimes.

Palmdale’s crime rate jumped 13.4%, largely because of increases in robberies, aggravated assaults, larcenies and auto thefts. Serious crimes in Lancaster climbed 8.1% as a result of more robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and larcenies.

Elsewhere in the county, there were these declines in serious crimes: Burbank, 11.3%; Downey, 11.7%; El Monte, 10.1%; Glendale, 18.4%; Inglewood, 9.8%; Long Beach, 16.8%; Norwalk, 2.9%; Pasadena, 16.8%; Pomona, 16.6%; Santa Clarita, 17.3%; Torrance, 16.5%, and West Covina, 10.2%.

In Orange County’s seven largest cities, crime dropped an average of 15%. The largest improvement was in Anaheim, where crime dropped 23%.

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While most Southern California cities registered notable declines in serious crime, the title of safest large city in the nation again went to Simi Valley in Ventura County, which nudged out Thousand Oaks for the top spot.

The safe-city rankings are based on a ratio of population to crimes reported.

Simi Valley ranked as the nation’s most crime-free city in 1993 and 1996, while Thousand Oaks ranked first in 1994 and 1995. Between them, the two Ventura County communities have ranked first nationally in six of the last nine years.

Santa Clarita, another white-collar suburb, placed third in the nation for the first half this year, followed by Amherst Town, N.Y., a college community in suburban Buffalo, and three more California suburbs--Sunnyvale, Irvine and Orange.

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Ostrow reported from Washington, Lait from Los Angeles and Kelley from Ventura. Times staff writers David Rosenzweig in Los Angeles and Steve Carney in Orange County contributed to this story.

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FBI Crime Statistics

Here is a look at serious crime in L.A. County cities with at least 100,000 residents, according to preliminary figures for the first six months of 1997 from the FBI’s nationwide Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

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Crime Crime Aggra- Index: Index: Forcible vated City Year Total Murder Rape Robbery Assault Burbank ’96 2,119 2 8 74 147 ’97 1,879 0 5 61 107 Downey ’96 2,570 4 18 173 98 ’97 2,269 5 12 128 62 El Monte ’96 2,265 2 23 303 148 ’97 2,034 0 21 255 180 Glendale ’96 3,739 7 6 176 189 ’97 3,050 1 14 124 210 Inglewood ’96 3,224 14 27 495 434 ’97 2,907 2 27 355 425 Lancaster ’96 2,975 6 33 153 503 ’97 3,216 2 29 175 544 Long Beach ’96 13,506 53 81 1,154 1,168 ’97 11,217 21 56 953 1,223 Los Angeles ’96 122,464 369 736 12,915 17,941 ’97 103,853 271 666 10,442 16,698 Norwalk ’96 2,285 3 10 181 381 ’97 2,218 4 11 151 421 Palmdale ’96 2,411 2 19 122 383 ’97 2,218 4 11 143 422 Pasadena ’96 3,816 10 22 263 306 ’97 3,173 6 23 256 333 Pomona ’96 4,032 12 16 282 486 ’97 3,360 23 11 234 409 Santa Clarita ’96 1,630 1 8 32 251 ’97 1,348 2 8 32 223 Torrance ’96 3,679 2 14 163 97 ’97 3,070 2 11 174 217 W. Covina ’96 2,680 1 10 149 138 ’97 2,404 4 8 131 137

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FBI Crime Statistics (contd.)

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Crime Crime Index: Index: Larceny/ Auto City Year Total Burglary Theft Theft Arson Burbank ’96 2,119 325 1,123 440 4 ’97 1,879 273 1,023 410 7 Downey ’96 2,570 487 1,128 662 18 ’97 2,269 416 1,016 630 11 El Monte ’96 2,265 460 856 473 38 ’97 2,034 397 692 489 23 Glendale ’96 3,739 561 2,278 522 31 ’97 3,050 530 1,642 529 19 Inglewood ’96 3,224 580 976 698 23 ’97 2,907 603 825 668 18 Lancaster ’96 2,975 743 1,144 393 29 ’97 3,216 791 1,278 397 28 Long Beach ’96 13,506 2,576 6,325 2,448 122 ’97 11,217 2,214 4,621 2,119 85 Los Angeles ’96 122,464 18,706 50,142 21,655 1,933 ’97 103,853 15,633 42,024 18,319 1,790 Norwalk ’96 2,285 382 811 517 22 ’97 2,218 313 713 605 15 Palmdale ’96 2,411 579 1,001 305 17 ’97 2,735 540 1,192 419 23 Pasadena ’96 3,816 643 2,182 390 39 ’97 3,173 581 1,646 328 52 Pomona ’96 4,032 875 1,560 801 21 ’97 3,360 686 1,304 673 30 Santa Clarita ’96 1,630 359 773 206 20 ’97 1,348 278 650 155 17 Torrance ’96 3,679 711 2,062 630 15 ’97 3,070 508 1,687 471 8 W. Covina ’96 2,680 436 1,467 481 15 ’97 2,404 356 1,348 420 16

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