UPDATE 3:34pm | Other cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco also saw historically low crime rates in 2010, hinting that successes in Long Beach could be part of a larger trend rather than an isolated case.
Officials in Los Angeles today announced that citywide murders were at their lowest rate in more than 40 years, and that crime has dropped each year for the past nine years. San Francisco also saw historically low crime rates. The same for Oakland. So did Dallas. So did Minneapolis. Chicago had its lowest murder rate in 45 years.
Police in San Francisco credited “aggressive anti-crime strategies.” An analyst in Chicago said that policing is now smarter. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said that the results are due to an expanded police force, and that the department should be given more money to hire more officers.
Not all cities have begun reporting their 2010 statistics, but the trend certainly encompasses Southern California and seems to expand beyond the state.
9:21am | Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell and other high-ranking officers yesterday announced that 2010 saw the lowest rates of property crime, murder and overall violent crime in many years.
“It demonstrates that this can be done even during difficult budget times,” said Mayor Bob Foster. He was joined at the podium by City Manager Pat West and some high-ranking officers in the police department.
“This comes at a time, as you all know, where not only Long Beach but cities across California are experiencing budget issues. This demonstrates that this police department, particularly its leadership, has found innovative and remarkably creative ways to fight crime.”
Both property crimes and overall violent crimes saw their lowest levels since the year 2000. Murders in Long Beach were the lowest since 1971.
“I’m extremely proud to be able to announce that 2010 brought a significant crime reduction in the crime rate for the City of Long Beach,” said Chief McDonnell. He said that quick response times to urgent “Priority One” calls played an important role in crime reduction. The department averaged a response time of four minutes and one second, he said.
Other noteworthy numbers showed that robberies dropped by 13.2%, aggravated assaults dropped by 14.9%, gang-related shooting dropped 13.5% and gang-related murders dropped 53.8%. Detectives also achieved a 90% murder clearance rate, the highest that the department has on record. Chief McDonnell acknowledged that forcible rape saw a slight increase by 2.3%, but said that the increase is only three incidents more than in 2009 and that is likely due to increased reporting, not necessarily an increase in rapes actually occurring.
“We believe that that could be due to increased reporting due to our efforts in trying to educate the community on the importance of coming forward and reporting crimes such as these,” McDonnell said.
Fully detailed statistics for the year 2010 should be available in a few weeks.
The department gave several reasons for the overall decrease in crime. Chief McDonnell first and foremost thanked the community for their willingness to report crime and work with detectives to solve crimes.
“I must also particularly thank the community that we serve,” McDonnell said, noting that the department received 238 citizen complaints in 2010, a number that he said the department can be proud of but that they continuously work to decrease.
“You are the eyes and ears of this community, and we could not be successful without your cooperation and your feedback. Know one knows your community better than you do, and your support makes all of this possible.”
He also pointed to advanced technologies and anonymous tip lines. The department also made an effort to reduce violent crimes by seizing guns, and took 887 last year. McDonnell emphasized the importance of the East Side Longos Gang Injunction that went into effect in 2010.
Officer-involved shootings were down by 40% with 17 in 2009 and 10 in 2010, McDonnell said. The police department drew unwanted attention in December when officers approached 35-year old Doug Zerby as he sat on a porch in a Belmont Shore courtyard, with what they believed was a gun. Officers say Zerby pointed the object at them and they fired, killing Zerby. He was holding a water nozzle.
It is unclear whether the drastic crime decrease in Long Beach is an independent anomaly or if decreased crime is a trend among other nearby cities, or even the nation. It is especially impressive that not just crime rates, but overall instances of crime saw their lowest level in years as the population of Long Beach has grown quickly.
Since the previous low murder rate in 1971, the population of Long Beach has grown by approximately 134,000 residents1. Yet the number of murders in the city has not only weathered a population growth but actually set a new low.
Since the previous low rates of property crime and violent crime, the population of Long Beach has grown by approximately 31,000 residents. Yet the overall number of those these crimes occurring has dropped as well.
Department officials say they aren’t sure whether or not other nearby cities are experiencing similar decreases in crime, or if Long Beach is alone in its impressive crime reductions.
Sources
1. 1970 Census, 2000 Census and 2009 population estimate conducted by California Department of Finance.