Violent Crime Drops in Southland

Violent crime in Los Angeles and cities throughout Southern California dipped sharply in 1996, with crime rates in some local jurisdictions dropping faster than the national average, according to the FBI’s annual crime report.

The crime report, which verifies preliminary numbers that were first made public in June, reflects an 11.6% drop in serious crime in Los Angeles, while cities such as Glendale, Long Beach and Pasadena experienced decreases ranging from 12.5% to 21%.

Nationwide, violent crime dropped an average of 6%, according to the final statistics, which will be released today. There were 9% fewer murders reported to police and 7% fewer robberies. Aggravated assaults were down 6%, and forcible rapes dropped 2%.

Property crimes were also down 2% nationwide. Burglaries led the trend with a 4% decline, followed by motor vehicle theft, down 5%; arson, down 3%; and simple larceny and theft, down 1%.

Although the FBI, as is customary, did not attempt to assess reasons for the lower crime rate, other authorities credited an increase in community policing and tougher sentencing laws. Others said a steadily improving economy was probably a factor.

But most analysts cautioned against too much optimism, despite the continuation of a downward trend that reverses an upswing in violent crime that occurred in the mid-1980s.

Some experts, such as James Q. Wilson, a criminologist at UCLA, said police must not be satisfied just with a drop in major crimes. They should not ignore small offenses, because a permissive attitude toward lesser crimes encourages a lawless attitude that leads to major offenses, he said.

“If you want to turn things around, you must show the bad guys that the good guys are in control,” Wilson said. “You do that by paying attention to small crimes.”

The FBI’s annual report is based on data submitted by more than 16,000 city, county and state law enforcement agencies. The rate of 634 violent crimes for every 100,000 inhabitants was the lowest since 1987.

In the nation’s largest cities--those with populations of 250,000 or more--violent crime dropped 7%, slightly better than the national average.

Regionally, reports of serious crimes--a combination of violent crimes and property crimes--declined 8% in the West, 7% in the Northeast and 1% in the Midwest. Reported crime was up 1% in the South.

Los Angeles reflected the national trend, with the number of murders falling from 849 in 1995 to 709 last year--for a drop of 16.5%. In Long Beach, there were 95 murders reported last year--up 15 from the year before. Overall, however, the crime rate dropped 14.2%.

Among some of the smaller cities in Los Angeles County, El Monte charted the most dramatic improvement. In 1995, there were 30 murders reported. Last year, that number plunged to nine. The overall number of serious crimes reported in the tiny community dropped 11%.

Other cities showing drops in reported crime include Inglewood, with a decrease of 8.4%, Norwalk with a dip of 8.9%, and Santa Clarita, with a decrease of 17.2%.

Despite such statistics, the fear of violence remains high, according to some authorities on crime. Said Gerald M. Caplan, dean of the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento: “It’s not the number of crimes but the nature of them that often frightens the public--the random and unpredictable nature of violence” in contemporary society.

Some experts said the reduction in property crimes was assisted by the increasing popularity of anti-theft devices on automobiles and by home security systems.

Reporting on their annual “crime clock,” FBI statisticians said a violent crime occurred last year, on the average, every 19 seconds and a property crime every three seconds.

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City Crime Stats

Here is a look at serious crime in five Los Angeles County cities with at least 100,000 residents, according to 1995 and 1996 figures from the FBI’s nationwide Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

City: Burbank

Murder

1995: 6

1996: 4

Forcible Rape

1995: 20

1996: 19

Robbery

1995: 188

1996: 169

Aggravated Assault

1995: 289

1996: 264

*

City: Glendale

Murder

1995: 8

1996: 14

Forcible Rape

1995: 22

1996: 16

Robbery

1995: 351

1996: 344

Aggravated Assault

1995: 384

1996: 347

*

City: Lancaster

Murder

1995: 9

1996: 12

Forcible Rape

1995: 49

1996: 58

Robbery

1995: 301

1996: 308

Aggravated Assault

1995: 961

1996: 1,005

*

City: Palmdale

Murder

1995: 7

1996: 6

Forcible Rape

1995: 38

1996: 38

Robbery

1995: 289

1996: 260

Aggravated Assault

1995: 823

1996: 837

*

City: Santa Clarita

Murder

1995: 4

1996: 2

Forcible Rape

1995: 28

1996: 19

Robbery

1995: 92

1996: 83

Aggravated Assault

1995: 554

1996: 492

Source: FBI