Huntington Beach’s serious crime rate dips 17%

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The city last year enjoyed the biggest drop in

serious crime among large cities in Orange County, according to an FBI

report released this week.

“Obviously, we’re pleased,” Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Janet Perez

said. “Who wouldn’t be?”

Compared to 1998, crime dove 17.4% in 1999. The average drop was 6.5% for

other large cities in the county, the report shows. Statistics are

limited to cities with a population of 100,000 or more. The crimes

tabulated include murder, rape, robbery, burglary and arson.

Aggressive law enforcement helped, but that in itself doesn’t tell the

whole story, Perez said.

A good economy, an aging population and more public awareness are also

credited for the drop.The booming economy is keeping unemployment rates

low. City government is helping with that by sponsoring programs such as

the job center, which offers work for unskilled laborers, Councilman

Ralph Bauer said.

With a population that is growing older, there are less people in their

“prime crime committing years,” ages 17 to 28, Perez said.

Also, there is greater public awareness of ways to avoid becoming a

statistic. Schools educate children about the dangers of drugs, Bauer

said, and volunteers form neighborhood watch groups, in which residents

keep an eye on each other’s property.

But other cities have taken similar steps without making such great

strides. The closest rival to Huntington Beach was Fullerton, with an 11%

reduction, according to the report.

The difference in Huntington Beach is that residents are activists who

are eager to get involved to make the city a better place to live, Bauer

said.

“It’s an indication that people really do care,” he said.

Although most serious crime is down, the report shows the number of

murders and arsons increased. There were 29 arsons last year, compared to

18 the year before. And there were five homicides in 1999, as opposed to

none in 1998.

Perez said it’s difficult to tell why there was a greater prevalence of

those crimes, especially murders.

“There’s absolutely no way, zero way, to predict homicides,” she said.