Briefly in the news

Crime in Huntington Beach is up by 5% this year, according to the 2001

California Crime Statistics for the first six months of the year released

by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer recently.

Huntington Beach saw a 5% increase in the California Crime Index

compared to the state’s 1.2% jump.

The rise in crime can be attributed to the 8.4% increase in property

crimes in the city, which include burglary and motor vehicle theft.

Meanwhile violent crimes, such as forcible rape, homicide, robbery and

aggravated assault, dropped 7.7% in Huntington Beach totaling 169

incidents thus far -- 14 less than last year.

The state reported a 1.5% drop in violent crimes in the most populated

cities and counties.

Huntington Beach reported no homicides for the second year in a row,

and robberies decreased by four bringing the number down to 36. This

contrasts to the 2% increase in robberies throughout the state.

Property crimes increased 2.9% statewide compared to 2000, with

Huntington Beach also showing an increase to 747 compared to 689 in 2000.

Burglary was down 1.4% statewide, but increased by 46 in Huntington

making the total 498 burglaries in 2001 as compared to 452 for the first

six months of 2000.

The report includes cities with populations of 100,000 or more. There

are about 75 cities that meet this criteria.