L.A. County at Hub of Soaring Drug Arrests

With Los Angeles County leading the way, the number of felony drug arrests in California increased 67% from 1980 to 1985, the state attorney general’s office reported Monday.

The report suggested that Los Angeles County has a proportionately larger and faster growing drug problem than the state as a whole, and that the county’s drug dealers also peddle more dangerous substances.

To some local law enforcement officials, the findings were further confirmation of an obvious trend.

“It reflects several things. One, there truly are more people engaged in narcotics trafficking than before. We know trafficking has increased many times over,” said Cmdr. William Booth, a Los Angeles police spokesman. “We know many foreign nationals are here for the sole purpose of engaging in narcotics transactions.”

Massive federal Drug Enforcement Administration efforts in Miami have served to push some of the business to Los Angeles, Booth said.

“We’re now running neck and neck with Miami as a center for international drug trade,” he said. “Of course, they’re running into a mighty effort here also.”

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, in a preliminary report last week assessing crime in 1986, blamed drug trafficking along with street gangs for an overall increase of 4% in major crimes in the city during the year, after a three-year decline. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said countywide statistics for 1986 are not available.

Called a ‘Major Priority’

Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, in issuing the report, said: “This staggering jump in felony drug arrest rates appears to confirm two propositions: that drug trafficking has been perceived to be increasing and that California law enforcement regards it as a major priority.”

The figures released by the state Bureau of Criminal Statistics showed the number of arrests for felony drug violations statewide climbed from 65,101 in 1980 to 108,729 in 1985, a 67% increase. The arrest rate per 100,000 population increased from 319.2 to 493, a 54.4% increase.

Los Angeles County accounted for almost half of the total drug arrests. By comparison, the county’s total number of felony drug arrests rose from 29,319 in 1980 to 51,015 in 1985, for an increase of 74%. The arrest rate over the same six-year period went from 391.4 to 631, a 61.2% increase.

The largest arrest increases were recorded in cocaine, heroin, LSD, PCP, amphetamines and related drugs. This group was defined as “narcotics” in the report to distinguish it from marijuana and a third grouping called “dangerous drugs” that included mostly stimulants and depressants.

Statewide, narcotics arrests rose from 21,357 to 55,155 during the period, a 158.3% increase. In Los Angeles County, the narcotics arrests rose 173.4%, from 10,187 to 27,852. In this category, the county thus accounted for more than half of the total narcotics arrests.

Van de Kamp, in his report, noted that in 1985, “for the first time, narcotic arrests became the most frequent type of felony drug arrest for juveniles, surpassing the felony marijuana arrest rate.”

Adult felony drug arrest rates increased from 332.3 to 519.6 per 100,000 Californians. Juvenile arrests increased from 244.0 to 314.6 per 100,000.