7.3% Decline in Reported Crime Biggest in a Decline

Reported crime in the San Fernando Valley continued its downward slide in 1984 by dropping 7.3% from the previous year, the greatest percentage decrease in area crime in at least 10 years, Los Angeles Police Department officials said Monday.

Officials credited Neighborhood Watch programs, specialized police task forces and changing demographics with contributing to the decline. They said, however, that although reported crime has now decreased in two consecutive years, the decline will not necessarily continue.

“Even with our reduction, there were 75,000 crimes which were reported last year all throughout the Valley,” said Valley Operations Bureau Commander Keith Allen. “We’re obviously delighted with the decline. But, of course, we could never pretend that a year when 75,000 crimes are reported in the Valley means a slow deal for the citizens of this area. Crime is still at an unacceptable level throughout the city and the Valley.”

Includes Homicide, Shoplifting

The overall drop of 7.3% covered a range of crimes--including homicides, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, thefts from motor vehicles, thefts from persons, auto thefts and other thefts such as shoplifting.

The only other periods of decrease reported in the last decade, officials said, were from 1982 to 1983, when reported crime in the Valley dropped 5.2%, and from 1975 to 1976, when a 2.5% drop was reported.

The Devonshire Division, which oversees Chatsworth, Northridge, Granada Hills and Porter Ranch, had the sharpest percentage decrease of reported crime not only in the Valley but also among all police divisions in Los Angeles, according to the report. After having 12,142 crimes reported in 1983, the Devonshire Division had 10,293 reported in 1984, a decline of 15.2%.

Law enforcement specialists and researchers said the decline in reported crime in the Valley reflects a nationwide drop that is at least partly due to a changing population.

“The younger people who were committing the majority of crimes have grown up, and there are fewer young people around,” said Peter Greenwood of Rand Corp., a private research organization.

“Also, older criminals are getting locked up more. People who get convicted are being put in prison longer. The justice system is toughening up.”

Greenwood said community programs such as Head Start, a federally funded program designed to steer children from poorer neighborhoods away from crime, have also been instrumental in lowering criminal activity among the young.

Special task forces have also contributed to the decline, Valley police officials said. Capt. Diane Harber of the West Valley Division said a 16.2% decrease in residential and business burglaries in that division could be traced to a crackdown on narcotics violators.

“When deployment permits, we run special ‘hype cars,’ which are designed specifically to apprehend addicts who might commit crimes,” Harber said. “When a person has a heroin habit, it means they have to commit at least one crime a day, and possibly three or four, to finance that habit. So when we can take these people off the streets, we are protecting three or four victims for every one we arrest.”

Lt. Bernard Conine of the Foothill Division said a burglary task force operating the past four months in Pacoima and Sylmar helped to produce the 15.8% drop in reported burglaries in 1984 over 1983 in that division.

Capt. Mark Stevens of the Devonshire Division said his officers’ work with Neighborhood Watch programs, along with “good, hard-nosed police work,” contributed to the dip in reported crime in his division.

“We have a whole daily community alert program in which areas are targeted where crimes are committed, and patrols are assigned to concentrate in those neighborhoods,” Stevens said. “That way, we can determine a pattern very quickly. We involve the neighborhood and tell them to watch out for suspicious characters. The concern of everyone has been remarkable and really helped in lowering our crime rate.”

An overall 9% decrease was reported throughout the Valley in “repressible crimes,” which are defined as those in which a police presence can make a difference. They include robbery, burglary, theft from motor vehicles and grand theft auto.

The largest percentage decrease for any crime category, 18.6%, was recorded in burglaries, which dropped from 26,120 in 1983 to 21,288 in 1984. The greatest percentage of increase, 2.7%, was reported for aggravated assaults, which rose from 3,952 in 1983 to 4,060 in 1984.