Increase in rape requires action

The crime statistics for Costa Mesa released this week that show a

13% increase in violent crime, including a 200% rise in rapes, bear

serious notice but not necessarily serious panic.

As we have argued before, numbers such as these can be spun in

almost any way. A 14.3% rise in robberies from 2002 to 2003, for

instance, sounds alarming.

But the actual increase, from 98 to 112, still leaves Costa Mesa

as a remarkably safe place to live. The same for the 1% rise in

burglaries, from 511 to 516. Also, several kinds of crimes fell:

assaults dropped 4.5% from 156 to 149 and auto thefts fell 4.7% from

425 to 405, according to the numbers from the state attorney general.

The one number that is disturbing is the amount of rapes. The 200%

rise from 14 rapes in 2002 to 42 in 2003 may have many explanations.

It could be an aberration. It simply could be because more rapes were

reported. But, as we said earlier this year when preliminary figures

were released, the large number of rapes demand attention and action.

That’s because rape is so often a life-altering crime, and the

Costa Mesa Police Department service agencies assure us and the

public that the fight against rape and sexual assaults is a core

priority.

Costa Mesa Police Chief John Hensley is on the right track when he

says the city needs to “step up education.”

We agree with the chief. The solution to the problem must be a

collective one, with residents and officers working together to make

the city’s streets safer. Neither civilians nor officers can shirk

from their responsibility to do so because the consequences are too

high.