Long Beach Police Show Gains in Solving Crimes : Law enforcement: Computer error failed to credit all cases that had been completed. But the department’s rating remains low compared to other cities.

The Long Beach Police Department, which had the worst crime-solving record in the state for most of the last 15 years, has actually done a better job of solving serious crimes in 1989 than it originally reported, according to officials.

New statistics released this week show that the department solved 18.2% its cases in 1989, instead of the 14% originally reported. But the department’s rates remained low compared to the performance of other major cities and the statewide average of 22%. Figures for 1990, also released this week, are significantly higher than last year’s.

Long Beach officials recalculated their 1989 rates for solving serious crimes after they discovered a computer programming error had skewed the department’s statistics for the last 15 years.

The computer program listed a crime as “cleared” only when it was solved during the same month it was reported, according to officials. A murder committed in January but solved in February, for example, was not counted as solved.

“Up to now, we have been cheating ourselves by not counting all crimes which the Police Department, in fact, solved,” Mayor Ernie Kell said.

Statistics in every category improved when officials ran their numbers through a new computer program. For example, the department initially reported solving 51.8% of its murder cases, 26% of rapes and 7% of burglaries in 1989. But under the new computer program, officials discovered that the department solved 57.6% of its murder cases, 37% of its rapes and 9.9% of its burglaries, according to Sgt. Larry Rhoads of the department’s Crime Analysis Unit.

But the new figures barely lift Long Beach off the bottom of a California Department of Justice list that ranks the crime-solving rates of law enforcement agencies for 1989.

Long Beach ranks ninth for the number of crimes it solved in 1989, below Los Angeles, Fresno, Anaheim, San Jose, Oakland, Santa Ana, San Francisco and San Diego. Only Sacramento did worse, solving 15.7% of its homicides, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries and auto thefts.

Officials did not recalculate other past years, but said they suspect the numbers would be higher if counted by the new computer program.

Police this week also released figures for 1990, calculated after the computer glitch was resolved. They paint a brighter picture. For example, police last year solved 56% of the city’s murders, 43% of its rapes and 14% of its burglaries.

The total crime-solving rate for last year shows that the department solved 25% of its cases, a significant improvement over the numbers reported since 1975. In the last 15 years, Long Beach police had the worst record in clearing crimes in every year except 1988, 1981, 1976 and 1975. Their best years were in 1987, when they solved 17.2%, and in 1975, when they solved 17.5%.

“In 1989, we were significantly understaffed and had not yet come on line with our accelerated hiring process,” Assistant Police Chief Eugene Brizzolara said. “Now that we’re hiring and we’ve got the sheriff’s deputies, we’re able to do a much better job.”

In November, officials contracted with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for deputies to patrol about one-fifth of the city.

“At least now (with the 1990 figures) we’re average or above average, compared to other departments in the state, but had we had additional personnel, we would have done a better job (in 1989,)” Brizzolara said.

City officials said they discovered the computer error earlier this month while reviewing how the number of crimes police solve is tallied.

Assistant City Manager John Shirey said he is unsure how the computer glitch occurred. “It was an honest error,” he said. “It’s just something that happened a long time ago.”

CRIME IN LONG BEACH The percentage of cases Long Beach police reported solved for 1989-90, according to revised figures supplied by the city.

1989 ORIGINAL 1989 REVISED 1990 CRIME CRIME-SOLVING RATE CRIME-SOLVING RATE RATE Homicides 51.8% 57.6% 55.5% Rapes 26.3% 37.1% 42.6% Assaults 41.0% 49.9% 61.5% Robberies 12.9% 15.9% 19.7% Burglaries 7.4% 9.9% 13.6% Vehicle thefts 8.5% 10.2% 10.1% TOTAL 14.2% 18.2% 25.1%

A comparison of Long Beach’s revised 1989 statistics with other major California cities .

CITY RAPE ROBBERY BURGLARY TOTAL Anaheim 71.7% 41.3% 20.2% 22.7% Fresno 58.1% 14.0% 23.9% 24.9% Long Beach 37.1% 15.9% 9.9% 18.2% Los Angeles 48.6% 22.2% 14.5% 25.1% Oakland 66.1% 30.2% 10.8% 20.9% Sacramento 48.7% 24.4% 8.3% 15.7% San Diego 47.6% 32.5% 11.3% 18.9% San Francisco 54.0% 23.7% 16.7% 19.2% San Jose 56.4% 41.9% 7.5% 21.3% Santa Ana 81.1% 34.8% 10.3% 20.6%

Source: Long Beach Police Department and California Department of Justice