Tuesday, January 12, 1999
Crime rates decline around campus, L.A. area
REPORTS: Effective laws, community involvement, patrols
contribute to drop
By Ann Hawkey
Daily Bruin Staff
In 1998, the LAPD saw significant decreases in crime throughout
the city, including in the West Los Angeles area, which now boasts
the third-lowest crime rate in Los Angeles, according to police
statistics.
UCLA’s perimeter also experienced reduced crime rates during the
past year, with drops in robbery, burglary and car theft.
Despite these decreases, though, total crimes reported to the
LAPD in the university’s surrounding areas have increased by 5
percent because of a 31 percent increase in thefts from motor
vehicles and a 60 percent increase in assaults.
Statistics are not yet available for crimes handled by
university police.
The residential area between Gayley Avenue and Veteran Avenue is
the spot most affected by crimes near UCLA, said Sergio Guzman, who
is the LAPD’s senior lead officer for the Westwood area.
"When I look at the reports, the area around the fraternities is
definitely what pops up the most," Guzman said.
"I would say it is the busiest because of the amount of
pedestrian traffic. It’s so crowded, you don’t know who’s who. A
car thief, a burglar – they could fit right in with anybody."
But an increase in the number of crimes reported may not
necessarily reflect an increase in the actual occurrence of crimes,
Guzman added.
"As far as raw numbers go, there may be an increase, but if I
speak to the detectives about the reports, they may say that only
10 percent of those were real cases," he said.
Guzman said that although a crime may be reported, further
investigation may often show that no crime was committed or that
victim did not want to file a formal police report.
Guzman also said that many crimes are not as serious as they
first appear. For example, an assault could simply involve two
people pushing each other, and many thefts from motor vehicles are
opportunistic crimes in which valuables were left in plain sight or
in an unlocked car.
Although combined crimes have increased, the crimes police
consider more serious problems have significantly decreased. This
includes a 43 percent drop in robbery, a 22 percent drop in
burglary and a 12 percent drop in grand theft auto since 1997.
Overall, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, homicide, burglary,
larceny and auto theft in the area have dropped 30 percent during
the past two years. These crimes all decreased citywide as well
last year, with crime rates 12.5 percent lower than 1997 levels as
of Dec. 12.
Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer said the citywide crime
reduction comes from a number of causes.
"The reduction in serious crime is attributable to many factors.
The economy is booming so many people are employed; local, state
and federal laws are doing more to keep firearms out of the hands
of criminals; the Los Angeles Police Department is larger,
better-trained and better-equipped than ever before," he said.
Feuer also noted the declining use of crack, harsher penalties
for convicted criminals and a smaller population of adolescents and
young men as contributing to the citywide crime drop.
On the local level, Guzman named an LAPD program called FASTRAC
as helping fight crime. FASTRAC stands for Focus, Accountability,
Strategy, Teamwork, Response and Coordination.
The program involves weekly meetings among officers and
detectives who seek to pinpoint specific crime trends, and then
search for solutions applicable to the areas affected.
"Once we find a pattern we work on targeting it," Guzman said.
"We identify reporting districts, we identify clusters, and then we
work on fighting it."
Guzman said this approach was successful in preventing auto
theft last year. With the FASTRAC program, LAPD instituted a system
that resulted in the decrease in crime.
Local police also said the Westwood Village Community Center has
been helpful in bringing down some crime rates in the UCLA
area.
The center is run and organized by both LAPD and university
police.
"The center really enhanced the ability of the agencies to work
together in Westwood, and it’s a good linkage for communication,"
said Nancy Greenstein, director of the university police’s
community services division.
"The informal routes of communication are often the most
effective."
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