Long Beach : 3rd Quarter Crime Statistics Down 8.6%, Police Report

Crime in Long Beach went down by 8.6% during the third quarter of this year, compared to the same time last year--a trend consistent with the first half of the year, Police Chief William C. Ellis said.

Through the end of September, overall crime decreased 6% compared to the first three quarters of last year, Ellis said.

Between July 1 and Sept. 30, the number of crimes decreased from 14,737 to 13,462, compared to the same period last year, police reported. Murder cases decreased 51.6%, from 31 to 15, and rape went down 25%, from 80 to 60.

Ellis attributed the drop to an increase in the number of officers on patrol and more participation from residents in neighborhood watch groups.

Crime statistics, however, have been in question since last year due to a number of discrepancies, including differences in how the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department tabulated crime data in deputy-patrolled areas compared to how Long Beach Police calculated the figures. Sheriff’s deputies patrol the north and northeastern parts of Long Beach.

This quarter, Long Beach Police did not release comparative figures between deputy-patrolled areas and the rest of the city. Ellis said those figures were not immediately available.

A dramatic drop in aggravated assaults has also been questioned. During the third quarter, for example, aggravated assaults decreased 46.8%, from 1,422 to 756, compared to 1991. Officials attributed the drop to a change in the department’s reporting, which moved certain simple assaults, which do not involve serious injuries or firearms, from the aggravated assaults category to a less serious category that includes crimes from vandalism to counterfeiting.

Aggravated assaults make up a major portion of a category called Part I crimes. These include more serious crimes such as murder and rape. The reporting changes helped Part I crimes drop by 32.2% during the third quarter, from 2,542 to 1,723.