Is There Safety in the Numbers?

End-of-the-year police statistics have revealed that murder rates in Los Angeles have dropped to the lowest levels in almost 30 years. Reasons cited for the drop include a strong economy, stiffer sentencing laws, gang truces and gun-control efforts.

A national Louis Harris telephone poll conducted last year found that although violent crime in the United States has hit a 24-year low, most respondents believed it was still increasing.

DIANE WEDNER asked an Encino homeowner and a North Hollywood apartment dweller if the latest upbeat crime statistics have changed their outlooks about personal safety in the Valley.

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RICHARD TOHL

Property manager and Encino resident

In the late 1980s, at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic--which fueled a great deal of gang activity--it seemed like there were daily reports of drive-by shootings and other gang-related crimes.

Now in the late ‘90s, I feel that the crime situation is definitely better; I don’t hear those frequent reports of murders like we did in the ‘80s. I’m sure some people would say, “You live in Encino, you don’t feel the crime wave like other people in the city.” But I still read about crime all over town, and the Valley had its share of high-profile murders last year.

Having been the victim of a violent crime myself--I was held at gunpoint in my office by a man threatening to kill my brother, but luckily we managed to escape--I am now much more aware of my surroundings at all times. That event shook me up for a long time. I find myself checking exits and escape routes when I’m in buildings, in the event I have to get out sooner than expected. The whole episode created in me a sense of helplessness that I don’t know if I can ever shake.

After the crime, my wife and I moved to the Valley--we’ve been here about a decade--and we now live in a house. The very first thing we did was install an alarm, which I set every night at bedtime. It gives me a sense of security, real or imagined.

I’ll never feel completely safe, but generally I do feel safer now. It’s not like the ‘50s and ‘60s, when I grew up here and it felt like “Mayberry RFD,” but I feel a definite improvement.

I believe the city is making stronger efforts to make the city safer, with a bigger police force and more patrolling. I let my kids walk and ride their bikes in the neighborhood, which they couldn’t do before. I suppose that as long as there is international terrorism and random acts of violence, like those that happened at schools around the country last year, I’ll never feel completely safe.

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MARIA MONTERROSO

Child-care worker and North Hollywood resident

When I arrived here from Guatemala in 1986, I had heard about a lot of crime in Los Angeles and I was afraid. Because I couldn’t afford my own place to live, I moved into an apartment with several women friends in the downtown area, near Vermont Avenue. There were many gang members hanging around our neighborhood, and they sprayed graffiti on the walls and broke into cars. My friend’s car, in fact, was stolen, and many apartments in our complex were [burgled]. There was a great deal of drinking and drug-selling going on on the street.

I moved to Canoga Park in about 1992, and it felt safer than downtown, although in the early ‘90s, there was a lot of crime there too.

Now I live in North Hollywood and feel a little more secure. The area is better policed and fewer gangs congregate there. I don’t see the same level of drug-selling and [vandalism] that I did a few years ago.

I had to ride the bus to and from work until a couple of years ago, and I hated walking to and from my apartment, especially after dark.

Although I hear the streets are safer now, I won’t walk them alone at night. A friend of mine was mugged on the street in the evening here in the Valley not too long ago, so I always enter my apartment with my roommate or a friend if it’s after dark.

I have heard that crime is down, and I believe the statistics, but at the same time I still hear reports of gang shootings and murders, even here in the Valley. I still feel frightened and insecure. Although I feel much safer than I did 10 years ago, I still worry about crime and take lots of steps to stay safe.