LAGUNA BEACH : Crime Dropped 17% in 1994, Report Finds

Major crime dropped 17% here in 1994 compared to 1993, according to a report released this week by the city’s Police Department.

However, the number of crimes reported in 1994 was still higher than in seven of the past 10 years.

The decrease relative to 1993, which saw a 17% increase in crimes over 1992, is traced to a reduction in four categories: assaults, burglary, larceny and auto theft, all of which constitute almost 98% of the crimes reported in 1994.

“We clearly have crime down by 17% this year,” said Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr., who lately has been grappling with one of this city’s most jarring crimes, the slaying last month of a Baskin-Robbins store owner during what police say was a botched robbery. It was the first crime of its type in Laguna Beach in at least 27 years.

Purcell attributed the 17% drop in 1994 to an increase in beach and foot patrols and to a program by the Orange County district attorney’s office that Purcell said helped shrink the number of cars stolen by nearly 40%.

The Orange County Auto Theft Task Force, which attempts to “identify, arrest and prosecute the professional vehicle thief,” is believed to be “greatly impacting the county’s auto theft problem,” according to the report.

No homicides were reported in 1994, but there were nine reported rapes, compared to five the year before. And while the overall number of robberies and assaults decreased, robberies involving firearms jumped from five in 1993 to nine in 1994, six of which occurred in businesses, the report says.

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Laguna Crime Decline

The number of recorded crimes in Laguna Beach fell in 1994 by 17% compared to 1993. Both personal crimes (down 10%) and property offenses (18%) dipped, with the single largest improvement coming in the number of larcenies. The details:

1993 1994 Change PERSONAL CRIMES Homicide/manslaughter 0 0 0 Rape 5 9 +4 Robbery 22 20 -2 Aggravated assault 165 143 -22 All personal crimes 192 172 -20 PROPERTY CRIMES Burglary 417 376 -41 Larceny 881 720 -161 Vehicle theft 146 88 -58 Arson 3 3 0 All property crimes 1,447 1,187 -260 TOTAL CRIMES 1,639 1,359 -280

Source: Laguna Beach Police Department