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
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.