EDITORIAL:Police deserve praise amid some bad news

Finding blame for bad news is a natural extinct. We all do it. And crime, just by its definition, is bad news. So when crime is up or high-profile cases become the norm, the fingers start pointing.

Last year, Costa Mesa police became a target of the aforementioned blame game with a rash of drive-by shootings, at least two that had fatal outcomes.

Some blamed the city leaders for creating an aura of antagonism in Costa Mesa by proceeding with an immigration enforcement initiative that has angered and alienated the Latino community.

Others claim the violence is a byproduct of that very same Latino community that they argue is rife with illegal immigrants.

And then there was the immigration initiative itself. Spawned by Mayor Allan Mansoor and the council majority, it was believed to be the cause of turmoil in the department and some cite it as the main reason former Police Chief John Hensley stepped down, though Hensley has denied that.

But this last week, we saw evidence that Costa Mesa police were not deterred by these distractions as serious violent and property crimes declined by 10%, according to numbers supplied by the state Department of Justice.

The biggest drops occurred with auto thefts dropping by nearly 27% and burglaries slipping almost 12% year over year. We’d be remiss not to mention that the news wasn’t all shiny and bright. Homicides went from three in 2005 to five in 2006. And while any increase is unwelcome, it would be hard to argue that Costa Mesa suddenly has become a haven for killings.

In Newport Beach, crime was largely flat year over year with a 2% decrease.

The numbers in both cities show that Newport-Mesa residents are fortunate to live in cities relatively free from major crime.

And while we are quick to cast blame, we should be equally quick to hand out the praise. So who do we thank?

Well, city leaders obviously should get credit, but most of the praise needs to go to the fine police officers in both cities. They stick their necks on the line each and every day and deserve our deepest thanks for the hard work they do to keep crime down.

That’s what these stats tell us. That despite all the politics that permeated city halls in the past year, those who do the real police work around here are pretty darn good at it.