CRIMES RISE, ARRESTS FALL VALLEY POSTS 6.5 PERCENT INCREASE IN SERIOUS OFFENSES.

Byline: Rick Orlov and Orith Goldberg Staff Writers

Despite strengthened efforts to deal with crime, serious crimes rose again in the first half of this year with a 4.9 percent rise citywide and a 6.5 percent hike across the San Fernando Valley.

Chief Bernard C. Parks pointed to a 4.1 percent drop in homicides citywide as a positive sign, but the Valley showed a sharp increase in homicides of 21.1 percent through June 30.

Overall, there were 257 homicides in the city this year and 46 in the Valley. Parks said 43 percent of the homicides were linked to gangs.

At the same time, the Los Angeles Police Department, struggling to put more officers on the street in the face of recruitment and retention problems, made 6.5 percent fewer arrests citywide in the first half of this year compared with the first half of 2000 - 28.8 percent fewer than the same period of 1999.

In the Valley, arrests were down 6.6 percent compared with last year and down 32.9 percent compared with two years ago.

Rapes declined 10.1 percent citywide, including a 12.8 percent reduction in the Valley.

But robberies were up in all areas, by 8.4 percent citywide and 13.4 percent in the Valley. Burglaries also were higher citywide as well as in all areas of the Valley except the West Valley.

Parks said the figures should be viewed with perspective, taking into account the long-term decline in crime rates that the city has experienced.

``You have to remember that in 1998-99, we were at a 30-year low in crime,'' he said. ``I don't think anyone expects us to have a day in the city of Los Angeles where crime is not being committed.

``We went from a period where we were averaging 800 homicides a year for 20 years and in the last three years, in total, we had under 1,400.

``We had 600,000 violent crimes a year and now we are down to about 170,000. That's significant progress. I don't think you can continue to expect to see 50 (percent) or 60 percent reductions in crime every decade.''

The 6.5 percent increase in serious crimes in the Valley from Jan. 1 to July 7 - and a 13.7 percent increase compared with two years ago - cannot be attributed to any one particular group or problem, LAPD officials said.

``There are many different variables,'' said LAPD Cmdr. Val Paniccia, assistant commanding officer of the department's Valley Bureau. He said weather, traffic and television violence are among the many factors that can influence crime.

``I'm afraid it is our society ... I think we need to increase the facilities and resources to members of the community when they are going though stress,'' Paniccia said.

He said police are not only dealing with a lack of officers per square mile - LAPD officers have one of the smallest ratios of officers per person in the nation among major police departments - but a tendency for a few criminals to commit multiple crimes.

``People are getting angrier and angrier with shorter fuses,'' Paniccia added. ``We're not mind readers.''

Lewis Yablonsky, professor emeritus of sociology and criminology at California State University, Northridge, said the increase in homicides in the Valley is significant. He agreed there is not much more police can do to prevent violent crimes.

``For the most part, police are brought in after a violent crime has taken place, so they really have no special role in preventing it,'' Yablonsky said.

In the Devonshire Division of the LAPD, homicides increased 166 percent from two years ago, but decreased 20 percent from last year.

LAPD Capt. Joseph Curreri at the Devonshire station said the homicide rate in the Devonshire area is a small figure when compared with the rest of the city, and he said Devonshire is the only division in the Valley that reported a decrease in violent crimes from last year.

With an 8.6 percent increase in robberies reported at Devonshire from last year and a 13.9 percent increase compared with two years ago, Curreri said police suspect ``a couple'' of robbers in the area have skewed the crime rates in general.

``If we can identify those two individuals and incarcerate them, I think our robbery rate will go down significantly,'' he said.

Devonshire has experienced a decrease in arrests of 0.6 percent to date from last year and a 21.6 percent drop to date from two years ago.

Curreri called the 0.6 percent decline in arrests ``outstanding,'' in light of the decrease in personnel.

Domestic violence also has been on the rise in the Valley, with a 6.5 percent increase since last year at this time and an 8.7 percent rise from two years ago, according to police records.

``It comes down to people being able to control themselves,'' Paniccia said. Maybe it's the fast-paced society we're living in ...''

Yablonsky said the increase in domestic violence could be due to many factors, including an increase in reporting of those crimes.

The 13.4 percent increase in robberies in the Valley from last year and 17.9 percent increase from two years ago might have something to do with a spree of crimes by a few people, Paniccia said.

The North Hollywood Division reported the biggest increase in robberies, up 24.5 percent.

The West Valley Division reported the biggest increase in homicides with a 200 percent jump - from three to nine - in the first half of the year.

The biggest increase in rapes was in the Van Nuys Division, up 11.1 percent from last year.

The biggest rise in burglaries was reported in the Foothill Division, up 20.4 percent.

Part of the reason for the continued increase in violent crimes, Parks said, is the rising number of young people in the high-crime age of 17 to 25 as well as the release of convicts from state prison.

``On any given day, we have 40,000 people on the street who are under some kind of supervision,'' Parks said. ``And statistics show 80 percent of them are likely to be involved in some kind of crime again.''

Police Commission President Raquelle de la Rocha said low LAPD morale was a factor in the falling arrest rate.

``It's something you can't really measure, but it sort of eats away at the people,'' she said. ``If people aren't happy, then they aren't on top of their jobs and aren't doing the proactive things to prevent crime.''

Parks, however, said he did not believe morale was an issue.

``I don't have a morale meter,'' Parks said. ``But, I look at what our officers are doing in fighting crime, in having contact with the public, and it kind of belies that conjecture.''

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CRIME'S UP

SOURCE: Los Angeles Police Department