In Crime, We’re Nowhere Near L.A.

The news from Los Angeles is dispiriting, isn’t it? What should be trumpeted as one of the world’s great cities -- blessed by climate and aesthetics and natural resources -- instead is being talked of as a “murder capital” and accepting of a subculture of crime that seemingly can’t be stemmed.

Some native Orange Countians or L.A. transplants may take private satisfaction from the grim crime statistics that have the new L.A. police chief growling, but let’s hope not.

No, we shouldn’t gloat, even though many O.C. residents fancy themselves as the anti-L.A. -- a society that hasn’t slid to the depths as have some parts of the city but 30 miles away.

But you know what? They’re right.

L.A. Police Chief William Bratton’s angry and anguished pilgrimage last week to its crime-infested neighborhoods seems completely foreign to Orange County.

That foreignness is to be celebrated.

This isn’t to say that Orange County has solved urban (or suburban) violence.

The county has gangs and murders and all other crimes-- but on nowhere near the scale of L.A. County.

In 2001, Orange County reported 8,560 violent crimes, according to figures from the state attorney general’s office.

That year, Los Angeles County reported 89,800 violent crimes -- easily more than 10 times the Orange County total -- even though the report put L.A. County’s population at not quite 3 1/2 times that of Orange County.

In 2001, L.A. County recorded 1,070 homicides; Orange County 63. You don’t need me to do the arithmetic to make the point. The statistics dovetail with a question in the annual Orange County Survey released last week, asking residents to identify the most important issues facing them.

Concern about crime and gangs came in sixth, behind issues like traffic, housing and education.

Latino respondents were more likely than whites to identify it as a problem, but the issue was listed as the top concern by only 5% of the 2,000 respondents.

Survey director Mark Baldassare says, “The difference between Orange County and L.A. is that Orange County has never gone through a period where gangs and street crimes were at the kind of crisis stage we’ve seen from time to time in L.A.”

Los Angeles has more people and neighborhoods “historically subject” to the crimes-drugs-gangs combination, Baldassare says.

But another critical difference has been Orange County’s ability to sustain its economy.

“I’m struck by what L.A. is going through now,” he says.

“I’ve always felt in the 20 years I’ve had experience with Orange County, the thing about crime is that people are on the lookout for it and it’s a manageable issue. There isn’t one big city police bureaucracy, but there are a number of police agencies, plus the county, and they all seem to work pretty well together. They coordinate in ways that I always found impressive.”

In contrast, he adds, “There are a lot of places in this state where people do feel crime is at a crisis stage, but nobody knows what to do with it. Oakland is like that now.”

The modern-era Orange County challenge has been to transform itself into a thriving metropolis while not succumbing to the attendant perils of big-city crime.

My bottom line this morning is that, at this point in history, the county can pat itself on the back for a job (relatively) well done.

Perhaps it also should send a heartfelt prayer to the City of Angels up the road.

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com.