Crime Drops for 5th Straight Year in Top O.C. Cities

Crime in Orange County’s largest cities continued to decline for the fifth consecutive year, led by a staggering 81% plunge in Anaheim’s murder rate, according to an FBI survey released Saturday.

Overall, crime dropped by 20% in the seven cities, including a 54% decline in number of murders. Property crimes such as burglaries and vehicle thefts dipped by 22%.

The Justice Department report measured crime in Anaheim, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Orange and Santa Ana during the first six months of 1996 versus the same period in 1995. The study found violent crime nationally dropped by 3%, far less that the Orange County decline.

City leaders, law enforcement officials and residents expressed a mixture of pride and relief at the findings, which they said demonstrate the effectiveness of community policing programs, neighborhood watch groups and crackdowns on career criminals and gangs.

“When you look at this in the long term, you see that the programs are making a difference and that things are turning around,� said Mayor Miguel A. Pulido Jr. of Santa Ana, where total crimes dropped by 14% and the murder rate declined by more than a quarter.

“Unfortunately, crime is sporadic. You have bad periods as well as very quiet ones,� Pulido added. “But overall, the trend is going in the right direction.�

The decline in murders is especially surprising because law enforcement and hard-hit communities have been bracing for the opposite. Authorities had predicted a surge in criminal activity as the population of teens increased over the next decade. Experts are still trying to determine what precisely accounts for the good news, but they are nonetheless encouraged.

Anaheim officials were buoyed by the dramatic drop in murders, which totaled 16 in the first half of 1995 but declined to just three during the same period last year. The city reported 15 murders for all of 1996, compared to 25 in 1995.

Councilman Lou Lopez, who is also a veteran Anaheim police officer, attributed the drop to new police task forces that target gang members, repeat offenders and others likely to commit crimes. The city has hired 36 additional officers in the last three years, he said.

“If you have a neighborhood hard hit by break-ins or burglaries, the task force might go in, follow the bad guy, track him until they make an arrest,� Lopez said. “If you can put these career criminals in jail, you are taking a big bite out of crime.�

The Police Department has also become more aggressive in tracking down parole violators and working with youths in troubled neighborhoods.

“The young people are realizing that the cops are all over the damn place and are going to be all over them if they commit a crime,� Lopez added. “When you put the heat on them, it definitely has an impact.�

Anaheim Councilman Bob Zemel said the lower murder rate must now be followed up with additional youth and social programs that keep youths from joining gangs and committing crime.

Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine and Orange recorded no murders in the first half of 1996. By contrast, Garden Grove had three murders in same period in 1995, while Orange had five, Huntington Beach had six and Irvine had one.

But other types of crimes jumped sharply in some cities.

Huntington Beach, for example, saw a 75% increase in robberies, from 64 in 1995 to 112 in 1996. The jump pushed the city’s overall violent crime rate up 19%.

City Councilwoman Shirley S. Dettloff said Saturday that the increase might be related to the heavy tourist trade in the city’s beach district.

“I think we know as residents that when your city is a magnet for tourists and other outsiders, you are going to have problems like this,� she said. “We are also just coming out of a severe recession, which sometimes leads people to commit crimes that would not happen under normal circumstances.�

In Irvine, total violent crimes jumped by 62%, fueled by a big increase in assaults. The city recorded 105 assaults in the first six months of 1996, compared to 46 in the same period in 1995. Anaheim saw a 11% increase in rapes, while Fullerton’s assault rate rose 21%.

Santa Ana officials said the 26% drop in murders highlights the success of the Police Department’s TARGET gang suppression team, which placed 196 active gang members under surveillance in 1996 and eventually arrested half of them.

“The majority of our homicides are gang-related,� said Sgt. Richie Murg, a 31-year veteran with Santa Ana police. “We’ve worked very hard in the past few years to keep a lid on gang activities. As a result, I think that’s why the murder rate has gone down.�

Mayor Pulido agreed. “We are finally beginning to see concrete results of a long-term agenda,� he said. “It’s a tribute to the Police Department as well as . . . the neighborhood associations and the church groups.�

Nationally, violent crime fell 5%, the FBI said, and property crimes decreased 2%.

“This is the fifth year in a row that figures for the first six months of the year show a decline in serious crime, the longest period of declining crime rates since 1969,� said Atty. Gen. Janet Reno.

Among violent crimes measured nationally, murder decreased 7%, robbery and aggravated assault, 5%, and forcible rape, 1%. In the property crime category, burglary was down 5%, motor vehicle theft, 4%, and larceny-theft, 1%. Arson was the only offense to show an increase, which was 2%.

Crime was also down elsewhere in Southern California.

Pasadena registered the biggest reduction among large cities in the area--27.5%--with significant drops in robberies, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts.

Serious crime fell 24% in Simi Valley; 22% in Santa Clarita; 20% in Riverside; 14% in Long Beach and San Bernardino; 12% in El Monte; and 10% in Inglewood.

Los Angeles had a 9% drop; Pomona and Torrance, 8%, according to the FBI report.

* O.C. CRIME CHART: A29

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Crime Picture Improving

Crime in Orange County’s largest cities during the first six months of 1996 declined 20% compared to 1995. Total violent crime and total property offenses both decreased, 7% and 22%, respectively. Here’s how 1996 compared to 1995 in the seven largest cities combined:

Murder: -54%

Rape: -5%

Robbery: 1%

Assault: -12%

Violent total: -7%

Burglary: -14%

Larceny/theft: -26%

Vehicle theft: -19%

Property total: -22%

CRIME TOTAL: -20%

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And here are the changes for each of the seven cities:

ANAHEIM

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1995 1996 % Change Murder 16 3 -81% Rape 38 42 11% Robbery 452 492 9% Assault 699 486 -30% Violent total 1,205 1,023 -15% Burglary 1,558 1,461 -6% Larceny/theft 4,236 3,963 -6% Vehicle theft 1,617 1,177 -27% Property total 7,411 6,601 -11% CRIME TOTAL 8,616 7,624 -12% FULLERTON Murder 3 3 -- Rape 19 9 -53% Robbery 106 98 -8% Assault 108 131 21% Violent total 236 241 2% Burglary 597 463 -22% Larceny/theft 2,029 1,573 -22% Vehicle theft 480 351 -27% Property total 3,106 2,387 -23% CRIME TOTAL 3,342 2,628 -21% GARDEN GROVE Murder 3 0 -- Rape 23 20 -13% Robbery 179 162 -9% Assault 252 216 -14% Violent total 457 398 -13% Burglary 707 612 -13% Larceny/theft 2,149 1,705 -21% Vehicle theft 791 630 -20% Property total 3,647 2,947 -19% CRIME TOTAL 4,104 3,345 -18% HUNTINGTON BEACH Murder 6 0 -- Rape 22 16 -27% Robbery 64 112 75% Assault 178 192 8% Violent total 270 320 19% Burglary 1,066 862 -19% Larceny/theft 2,241 2,191 -2% Vehicle theft 498 482 -3% Property total 3,805 3,535 -7% CRIME TOTAL 4,075 3,855 -5% IRVINE Murder 1 0 - Rape 7 10 43% Robbery 35 29 -17% Assault 46 105 128% Violent total 89 144 62% Burglary 388 400 3% Larceny/theft 1,545 1,416 -8% Vehicle theft 222 176 -21% Property total 2,155 1,992 -8% CRIME TOTAL 2,244 2,136 -5% ORANGE Murder 5 0 - Rape 9 14 55% Robbery 87 85 -2% Assault 174 174 -- Violent total 275 273 -1% Burglary 525 456 13% Larceny/theft 1,250 1,140 -9% Vehicle theft 460 333 -28% Property total 2,235 1,929 -14% CRIME TOTAL 2,510 2,202 -12% SANTA ANA Murder 34 25 -26% Rape 36 36 - Robbery 613 579 -6% Assault 553 455 -18% Violent total 1,236 1,095 -11% Burglary 1,272 997 -22% Larceny/theft 3,764 3,240 -14% Vehicle theft 1,627 1,480 -9% Property total 6,663 5,697 -14% CRIME TOTAL 7,899 6,792 -14%

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Source: U.S. Department of Justice