Violent Crime Surges by 17% in Long Beach
The city of Long Beach, which had the largest surge in major crimes of any California city in 1989, experienced another year of crime increases in 1990, according to statistics released this week. Violent crimes went up by 17%, including a 26% increase in murders, which jumped from 85 in 1989 to 107 in 1990.
The increases, however, are not as sharp as in the previous year, when skyrocketing crime prompted neighborhood activists to organize special citizen patrols and officials to contract with the Sheriff’s Department to patrol one-fifth of the city. Assistant Police Chief Eugene Brizzolara on Wednesday called the increase in violent crimes “totally unacceptable.”
Overall, crime last year increased by nearly 2% throughout the city--an improvement over the 10% increase in 1989.
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