AUTHORITIES SAY CRIME PLUNGING AT LOCAL MALLS.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

Crime against holiday shoppers has fallen off so far in the San Fernando Valley that police have had no luck luring thieves to snatch pricey gifts left in plain sight on seats of flashy open convertible cars.

Purse and package snatchings, auto thefts and violent crime were down at shopping centers throughout the Valley, including at the Panorama Mall, Topanga Plaza, The Promenade at Woodland Hills, Northridge Fashion Center and Fallbrook Mall, police said.

``It's gone to near nothing, and that's why we come out to make sure it stays that way,'' said LAPD Officer Mark Hernandez, assigned to the bike unit at three West Valley malls.

Mall officials agree.

``Crime is at an all-time low, especially at the malls,'' said Lysa Barry, spokeswoman for the Fallbrook Mall in West Hills.

She recalled a sting operation the police tried at Fallbrook to catch would-be thieves. ``The police sat there waiting with the sunroofs off. . . . It was a bomb!'' Barry said.

So instead of spending their time making arrests, police officers on foot, bike and horseback have more time to focus on crime prevention and offer more assistance to shoppers.

Each mall still has shoplifting, but the development of more sophisticated security features are leading to the capture of more thieves, police said.

``Just about every store has cameras. There's nowhere to hide now,'' said Sgt. Bruce Fox of the Glendale Police Department's Glendale Galleria detail.

Fox and others attribute the strong decline in mall crime as a continuation of the yearlong slide across the nation, in addition to beefed up security.

At the Glendale Galleria, overall crime stayed about the same as last year, with 115 arrests from Thanksgiving to Dec. 23, vs. 106 arrests for the same period last year, Fox said. But the crimes are less serious, with all but seven of the arrests theft-related, he said.

At the Panorama Mall, the biggest problem seems to be parents not attending to their children or the exchange of fake currency, security officers said. And the few purse or package snatchings that do occur stem from customers placing their items down on counters and walking away.

Fallbrook Mall officials report that crime is down by about 35 percent.

``It seems to be people are behaving,'' Fox said.

At the Northridge Fashion Center, 72 arrests were made from Dec. 1 to Dec. 23, said Officer Craig Ledsworth of the Los Angeles Police Department's Devonshire mall substation. By the end of the month, police expect about 80 arrests there, compared to 120 last year.

The majority of this year's crime involves stolen credit cards or bad checks and shoplifting, Ledsworth said.

Ledsworth attributes the drop in crime largely to the mall's renovations after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. More security features were installed, and there are now better-trained officers.

``Seven cars per month were stolen before the quake. Since we remodeled, we have seven stolen per year,'' he said. ``When a criminal sees someone looking at them, they don't want to make eye contact. They leave.''

However, some violent crime still occurs, police agree.

At the Northridge Fashion Center on Tuesday, a man was stabbed and robbed of $2,900 in cash that he had just withdrawn - the first assault with a deadly weapon since the mall reopened, Ledsworth said.

The man was hospitalized, but released with minor stab wounds to his abdomen, Ledsworth said.

Police on horseback are credited with helping drive down crime. From atop horses at the Fallbrook Mall, the officers have an easy view of entire parking lots. And criminals can see the police are there as well.

As a result, the most action these riders have seen is helping shoppers find their cars missing in the sea of vehicles or capturing kids sneaking in the back of the cinema for a free movie.

The mounted patrol also passes out maps and gives coloring books to children.

``It's been very quiet,'' said Officer Trish Demers atop her Pinto horse named Tinker.