A.V. SEES DECLINE IN CRIMES; OFFICIALS VOW TO CONTINUE EFFORTS TO ENSURE SAFETY.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer Serious crime in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley continued to decline during the first six months of 1999, compared with the same period last year, with cities and unincorporated areas In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality. To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, i.e., a city or town with its own government. showing double-digit drops. Violent crimes - including homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny larceny, in law, the unlawful taking and carrying away of the property of another, with intent to deprive the owner of its use or to appropriate it to the use of the perpetrator or of someone else. , grand theft auto and arson arson, at common law, the malicious and willful burning of the house of another. Originally, it was an offense against the security of habitation rather than against property rights. - fell 14 percent throughout the Antelope Valley, with Palmdale showing the greatest decrease at 22 percent. Lancaster and unincorporated areas were down by 17 percent. ``I'm encouraged by the overall drop,'' said Capt. Tom Piggott of the Lancaster sheriff's station. ``Now we'll continue to do the very best we can to make sure that people are safe in their homes.'' Leading the decrease in Lancaster were grand theft auto, down by 44 percent, and larceny, which fell by 27 percent. ``It appears that our covert operations Noun 1. covert operation - an intelligence operation so planned as to permit plausible denial by the sponsor military operation, operation - activity by a military or naval force (as a maneuver or campaign); "it was a joint operation of the navy and air force" are responsible for any reduction in property thefts,'' Piggott said. ``They have been very successful.'' Piggott was referring to two operations - dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. Men In Black in 1998 and Men In Black II earlier this year - in which undercover deputies targeted suspects involved in the sale and purchase of stolen goods. Lancaster also reflected declines in homicide, 25 percent; robbery, 17 percent; and burglary, 4 percent. Conversely con·verse 1 intr.v. con·versed, con·vers·ing, con·vers·es 1. To engage in a spoken exchange of thoughts, ideas, or feelings; talk. See Synonyms at speak. 2. , the number of rapes reported in Lancaster rose from 24 to 27; arsons went from 17 to 38; and assaults from 489 to 539. Piggott attributed much of the increase to better reporting of assault cases, particularly in the schools, and a greater willingness on the part of women to come forward after they've been attacked. ``We now have better reporting,'' Piggott said. ``Wives and former girlfriends are less reluctant. They know we'll show sympathy and empathy empathy Ability to imagine oneself in another's place and understand the other's feelings, desires, ideas, and actions. The empathic actor or singer is one who genuinely feels the part he or she is performing. . That's the biggest thing that we have turned the corner with them.'' Piggott also attributed much of the city's drop in crime to the expansion of the Community Oriented Policing Services This article is about Community Oriented Policing Services. For other uses of COPS or cops, see Cops. The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) is an agency within the United States Department of Justice. and Target Oriented Policing programs, which put officers into the communities. Officials note that some of the decline could be attributed to an uptick Uptick A transaction occurring at price above its previous transaction. In order for an uptick to occur, a transaction price must be followed by an increased transaction price. in the local economy and say their next goal is to stay ahead of the game. ``The challenge will be to continue to try to provide the best service we can to try to prevent any reverse of these numbers,'' Piggott said. ``We want to hold that line.'' In Palmdale, homicides led the decline going from five to three. Larceny dropped by 30 percent, burglary was down 26 percent and arson decreased by 17 percent. Assaults in Palmdale went down by 15 percent and grand theft auto declined by 13 percent. ``The numbers are certainly looking good,'' said Capt. Terry Judge, who is in charge of the Palmdale sheriff's station. ``I think it's an out-and-out collective effort. We have a number of programs throughout the city.'' The number of rapes reported went from 18 to 25, while robberies were up a whopping 31 percent. ``I'm concerned about robbery and rape because of the violent nature of those crimes,'' Judge said. ``We're looking at how we can reduce them drastically. ``Any rape is unacceptable. We have to get the message out there consistently. If we take away the opportunity from the crook, our community will be safer for everybody. Those kind of predators I have no use for. ``Our goal is going to continue to keep the numbers down. That's the message we want to send out - that the Antelope Valley is one of the nicest, safest areas to live in.'' CRIME STATISTICS The following figures compare Antelope Valley crime statistics for the first six months of 1998 and 1999. LANCASTER Crime 1999 1998 Change Homicide 3 4 -25.0% Rape 27 24 +12.5% Robbery 106 128 -17.2% Assault 539 489+10.2% Burglary 629 652 -3.5% Larceny 904 1,240 -27.1% Auto theft 230 413 +44.3% Arson 38 17 +123.5% TOTAL 2,476 2,967 -16.5% PALMDALE Crime 1999 1998 Change Homicide 3 5 -40.0% Rape 25 18 +38.8% Robbery 102 78 +30.7% Assault 379 448 -15.4% Burglary 436 590 -26.1% Larceny 788 1,129 -30.2% Auto theft 297 341 -12.9% Arson 19 23 -17.3% TOTAL 2,049 2,632 -22.2% UNINCORPORATED AREAS Crime 1999 1998 Change Homicide 1 5-80.0% Rape 11 11 0% Robbery 21 14 +7.1% Assault 189 200 -6.5% Burglary 228 277 17.7% Larceny 251 341 -26.4% Auto theft 90 31 -31.3% Arson 18 0 NCN NCN National Council of Nurses. TOTAL 979 809 -17.4% SOURCE: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. CAPTION(S): chart Chart: CRIME STATISTICS(see text) |
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