An Island of Peace on the Peninsula

A knife-wielding teenager’s attack on her younger sister was the only act of felony violence in Palos Verdes Estates last year, easily ranking the coastal community as the least violent city with a population of 10,000 or more in California.

The small, wealthy Santa Monica Bay enclave not only set the pace for peacefulness in the state, but also placed among the quaintest New England villages and the quietest Midwest towns as the most crime-free cities of such size in the nation, according to a recent FBI report.

The FBI reports violence in four categories -- homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault -- in annual statistics of crime in the United States.

In Palos Verdes Estates, officials say they worry less about violence than about cars speeding faster than the 35-mph limit on the main street.

“It’s so slow that officers who really want to go out and fight crime get bored here,” said police Capt. Mark Velez. “We do get some gang members up here, but they come to hang out at the cliff’s edge because they want a safe haven from the shooting too.”

In California, Palos Verdes Estates was less violent than the gated senior citizen community of Laguna Woods in Orange County, more peaceful than exclusive Hillsborough and Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area and quieter than tranquil Sierra Madre and San Marino in Los Angeles County.

Whereas Palos Verdes Estates had only the single act of serious violence, less populous Malibu reported 50 violent offenses and larger Beverly Hills reported 138.

Unlike some of those communities, cliff-hugging Palos Verdes Estates has no gated neighborhoods. But it benefits because it has so few stores from which to steal.

It also is geographically isolated, wrapping like a horseshoe -- or a crescent, as city officials prefer to say -- around the Palos Verdes Peninsula, about 25 minutes removed from the nearest freeway.

Police say it helps that the city has only a couple of main entrance streets and no street lights, so potential criminals sometimes become disoriented on its twisting roadways.

“And our residents don’t hesitate to call us,” said Police Chief Daniel Dreiling, who joined the force 24 years ago and never left.

“We get about 125 calls a day, everything from, ‘How come my porch light doesn’t work?’ to ‘I think somebody’s in my backyard.’ ”

The 24-officer force takes less than four minutes to respond on average, and even less time for emergencies, Dreiling said. Though the tiny city covers just five square miles, three police cruisers are on duty at all times. They are regularly joined by a motorcycle patrolman and all-terrain-vehicle-riding officers on beach patrol.

“I was just joking with my buddy about what a great job it would be to be a police officer here,” Malaga Cove surfer Jeff Harrah, 39, said one sun-splashed morning last week after an ATV officer cruised by.

Subdivided by a New York financier in the 1920s and incorporated in 1939, Palos Verdes Estates is a city of about 14,000 residents. Many live in Spanish-style homes on serpentine streets with panoramic views of the Santa Monica Bay and the Malibu coastline.

Even modest houses sell for more than $1 million. One hilltop estate has 30,000 square feet of interior space. Income levels regularly rank among the highest in Los Angeles County.

Former residents include rock star Rod Stewart, all-star quarterback Joe Montana, football coach George Allen and actor Buddy Ebsen. Many current residents include lawyers, business executives and retirees.

Amid towering eucalyptus and pine trees, the city’s real estate holdings make it a municipal resort. It owns a picturesque golf course and tennis club, riding stables and a beach and athletic club.

It also owns 10 homes with spectacular ocean views, purchased to settle a lawsuit when a hillside began to slide. City employees live in five of them.

From his city-owned home on a 150-foot bluff, City Manager Jim Hendrickson enjoys a view of 60 miles of coastline all the way to Point Mugu in Ventura County.

“When I was hired here 15 years ago, they told me the view was worth $10,000 in salary,” Hendrickson said, grinning. “When I asked for a raise, they said it’s now worth $15,000.”

But if the dramatic beauty of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is the city’s hallmark virtue, officials and residents say its safety ranks just behind.

“I’ve had no problems in all my 24 years here,” business executive Colin Hull, 62, said during a noontime walk. “I think I heard of a case of burglary. But that was several years ago.”

Nearby, Ann Pfohl, a 50-year-old mother of five, said she walks six miles each day and thinks nothing about her safety. “I enjoy a moonlit stroll,” she said. “I just grab a flashlight and go out.”

Statistics suggest that is a reasonable thing to do. Over the last 11 years, Palos Verdes Estates has had only one homicide, 11 rapes and 26 robberies. This year, crime is up to two acts of felony violence, one rape and one attempted robbery.

Indeed, a problem that worries officials is that their city seems so safe and secure that residents and peace officers could drop their guard.

“Police get kind of complacent when they feel it’s a safe zone,” Chief Dreiling said. “So we have to remind ourselves there are bad guys out there. We take guns away from people maybe once every two weeks.”

The city does have a modest amount of property crimes -- 45 burglaries, 84 thefts and seven auto thefts last year. When that happens, thieves have usually followed residents’ expensive cars into the city, police said.

A few years ago, an executive’s young son was kidnapped for ransom. Another time, the wife of then-President Reagan’s personal attorney was killed by her son.

And during a 1994 meeting in nearby Torrance, two Palos Verdes Estates police officers were killed when a robber broke into a seminar and shot them when they resisted. Dreiling was one of the officers who choked the assailant to death in a struggle to subdue him.

Yet many residents remain blissfully assured about their safety. Retirees Larrie and Violet Chappell, who have lived in Palos Verdes Estates for 48 years, said they never have been threatened.

“It’s quiet and friendly up here,” said Larrie, a former aerospace illustrator. “Nobody comes up here; and if they do, they can’t find their way out.”

Added Violet, a former school nurse: “It sounds pretty glowing, but that’s just the way it is.”

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Peaceful places

Seven small cities in the Northeast and the Midwest had no reported felony violence in 2003. Fourteen had only one serious act of violence, including Palos Verdes Estates.

California cities with fewest acts of violence*

*--* Violent City crimes Palos Verdes Estates 1 Clayton 6 Hillsborough 7 Laguna Woods 8 American Canyon 10 Kingsburg 12 Orinda 12 Mill Valley 13 Sierra Madre 13 Piedmont 14 Twin Cities (Corte Madera, Larkspur) 16 Los Altos 17 Moraga 18 Saratoga 19 San Marino 20 Solana Beach 20

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U.S. cities with fewest acts of violence*

*--* Violent City Population crimes Westlake, Ohio 32,201 0 Merrimack, N.H. 26,710 0 Ridgefield, Conn. 24,213 0 Fairview Park, Ohio 17,328 0 Aurora, Ohio 14,263 0 Bedford, Mass. 12,658 0 Plattekill Town, N.Y. 10,299 0 Palos Verdes Estates 13,894 1 Brecknock Township, Pa. 11,343 1 Helena, Ala. 11,438 1 Rye, N.Y. 15,118 1 Madison, Conn. 18,669 1 Spencer, Iowa 11,224 1 Falmouth, Me. 10,599 1 Cedarburg, Wis. 11,194 1 Fox Valley, Wis. 17,115 1 Hanover, N.H. 11,233 1 Westford, Mass. 21,268 1 Grosse Ile Township, Mich. 10,973 1 Rochester, Minn. 10,802 1 Warwick Township, Pa. 13,497 1 Franklin Lakes, N.J. 11,117 1

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*Murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault in cities with at least 10,000 residents in 2003.

Source: FBI Crime in the U.S., 2003