Commentary: Focus on motels misses the big picture on rise of crime in Costa Mesa

By John Stephens

Oct. 13, 2016 2:11 PM PT

I’m against crime committed against and by motel residents. I’m against crime committed in apartments and by those who live in apartments. I’m against crime committed in single-family neighborhoods. I’m against all crime committed by or against Costa Mesans anywhere.

So what should we do about the rise in crime in Costa Mesa? Our crime rate was up 33% in 2015. And we’re no safer in 2016. Recently, a truck was stolen in Mesa Verde. We’ve had armed robberies on the Westside and burglaries on the Eastside. No neighborhood is immune.

There are many explanations and theories for the spike in crime. Laws relating to prison overcrowding have put more parolees and probationers into our streets. These laws impeded law enforcement’s ability to combat drug possession and petty theft violations, which are now misdemeanors. We have an estimated 300 rehab homes in Costa Mesa, bringing those struggling with substance abuse into our neighborhoods. Some addicts drop out of these programs, ending up on our streets, committing crimes and generating calls for service.

In June 2011, against the recommendation of retained experts and police department management, our City Council majority voted to cut the police force to 126. This led to a mass exodus of experienced officers to other agencies, taking with them hundreds of thousands of dollars in training that we paid for, which now benefits other communities. Even as the police force dipped below 126, the council majority maintained a hiring freeze. We’ve been playing catch up ever since.

Costa Mesa is “over-crimed” and understaffed. We’ve only added four officers net of attrition since 2014. We are now down to 108 active police officers (the budget is 136 officers). We have 36 vacancies in sworn officers and support staff. We have cut our narcotics, K9 and helicopter units and slashed other specialty units to the bone. We are unable to hire officers fast enough to fill the deficit created by the council majority’s short-sighted decisions. (Although the justification for cutting our police force was to save on pensions, our unfunded pension obligation has grown from $218 million in 2010-11 to $246 million.)

Recruiting challenges include: the police officers going 650 days without a contract; expressions of disrespect for our officers by councilmen; and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and Mayor Steve Mensinger suing the police officers’ association, which our officers must pay to defend themselves out of their own pockets.

Our police staffing is so low that we lack the personnel to effectively and efficiently recruit. And, even if we could recruit the dozens of officers we need, we don’t have the resources to train them (it takes 10 months to train a new hire.)

Mensinger and Righeimer caused this mess, but they won’t admit it. They try to distract the public from their bad policy decisions by blaming our crime rise on “attractants,” specifically “problem motels.” Their solution is to replace the motels on Harbor and Newport boulevards with five-story apartment complexes.

But the facts don’t support their proposed solution. According to Police Chief Rob Sharpnack, there is no evidence that replacing motels with five-story apartments would materially reduce crime. In fact, the evidence is to the contrary. Three apartment complexes have many more calls for service from residents than any motel. The Wozniak murder happened in Camden Martinique! Building massive apartment complexes is not the solution to our public safety crisis.

There is no doubt that criminals stay in Costa Mesa motels, apartments, single-family homes, rehab homes and some are homeless. Structures do not commit crimes, people do. And people are deterred by a robust police force. Now, sadly, criminals know Costa Mesa’s police force is understaffed, and they are no longer deterred from committing crimes in our town.

A change in leadership is necessary to restore public safety. A new council would remove the toxic environment that our police force now endures. This would make Costa Mesa more attractive to new recruits and lateral prospects, and we would retain our experienced, well-trained officers. We also need a council that will address nuisance rehab homes aggressively with innovative civil enforcement tactics. New leadership on City Council is our only hope to make Costa Mesa safe again.

Attorney JOHN STEPHENS is a candidate for Costa Mesa City Council.