Surf City safest in Orange County

Danette Goulet

Huntington Beach was the safest large city in Orange County and eighth

safest large city in California, according to the 2001 Uniform Crime

Statistics released this week by the FBI.

With 4,500 reported crimes in 2001 compared to 4,529 in 2000 the

city’s total crime rate dropped by 0.6% last year.

“Overall Orange County is a safe place to live and the beach

communities are a safe place to live,” Mayor Debbie Cook said.

Despite the overall drop in the crime rate, the number of crimes

reported in five of the eight categories went up, according to the

report. Forcible rape, robbery and arson each showed a slight increase.

In 2000 there were 31 rapes reported in Huntington Beach as opposed to 44

in 2001. Robbery bumped up one from 93 in 2000 to 94 in 2001, and there

were 48 arson cases reported in 2001 as opposed to 35 in 2000.

There were no murders in Huntington Beach either year, although that

number will jump next year when the 2002 report is released.

Burglary and auto theft both made greater leaps -- well into the

double digits. Reported burglaries jumped from 959 in 2000 to 1,002 in

2001 and Huntington Beach reported 547 auto thefts in 2001 as opposed to

491 in 2000.

Police said they could not give a specific reason for the rise in

numbers, adding that car theft is often a seasonal crime.

People go Downtown and park by the pier and don’t look after their

cars -- leaving windows down -- creating opportunities for car thieves,

said Sgt. Gary Meza of the Huntington Beach Police Department.

Likely it was the large drops in the number of aggravated assault,

larceny and thefts reported that helped bring Surf City’s number down, he

said.

Aggravated assault dropped from 254 cases in 2000 to 205 last year.

But the widest margin was in larceny and theft, in which 90 less

incidents were reported last year, bringing the number down to 2,608.

“We’ve got police officers that are very proactive,” Meza said.

Officers are constantly out in the field, making contacts and working

on preventing crimes, he said.

Meza also credited Huntington Beach residents who he said, aren’t

afraid to call the police when something suspicious isgoing on.

“[Residents] aren’t afraid of getting involved,” Meza said.

FYI BOX

Crime Statistics

Total crime in Huntington Beach -- .6% change from 2000 to 2001

Crime per 10,000 residents 235

Crime 2001 2000

Total 4,500 4,526

Forceable rape 44 31

Murder 0 0

Robbery 94 93

Aggravated assault 205 254

Burglary 1,002 959

Larceny/ theft 2,608 2,698

Auto Theft 547 491

Arson 48 35