CRIMES UP IN LANCASTER, DOWN IN PALMDALE.

Byline: CHARLES F. BOSTWICK Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Led by crimes involving gangs, drugs and prison parolees, serious crime increased in Lancaster and dropped in Palmdale in 2005, Sheriff's Department records show.

Robberies, rapes, aggravated assaults, burglaries, thefts and arson all increased in Lancaster, with auto thefts going down and homicides staying the same, for a total of 5,968 serious crimes - up 8 percent from 5,525 the year before.

In Palmdale, homicides, rapes, burglaries and arson were up; robberies, assaults, thefts and auto thefts were down. Overall, Palmdale serious crimes went from 5,239 to 5,225 - down 0.3 percent.

``We are very aware of the problems,'' Lancaster sheriff's station commander Capt. Carl Deeley said. ``People have a right to be frustrated in the rise of crime up here.''

Deeley and Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts said since 2004 Lancaster has added more sheriff's deputies, authorized a new staff of community service officers trained to collect fingerprints at crime scenes, and launched efforts against criminals living in government-subsidized rental housing, juveniles who break into homes while skipping school, and out-of-the-area parolees who commit crimes.

``We're doing everything in our power to get the bad guys off the street,'' Roberts said. Overall, the Los Angeles County portion of Antelope Valley last year had 37 homicides, including two that occurred inside California State Prison-Los Angeles County but were listed on Lancaster's crime report. There were 36 homicides in 2004.

The record is 45 homicides in 2003. The old record had been 38, set in 1992.

The serious crime rate in Lancaster climbed from 423.8 serious offenses per 10,000 residents in 2004 to 440.26 in 2005. In Palmdale, the rate dipped from 393.97 to 375.38.

``Of course, we'd like to do better,'' Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said. ``I'm happy we continue to drop the numbers in spite of population increases. I think that's the story over the last 10 years.''

Ledford said he expects Palmdale's law enforcement budget will be increased as usual this summer to add more deputies, though throughout the county a shortage of deputies means many are working overtime to fill all the jobs.

In both cities, crime remains below peaks hit in 1997, despite Lancaster adding more than 8,000 residents since then and Palmdale more than 22,000, according to Sheriff's Department records.

In 1997, Lancaster had 6,609 serious crimes, for a crime rate of 519.98 per 10,000 residents. Palmdale had 5,687, for a crime rate then of 484.83.

The serious-crime statistics cover four violent crimes and four property crimes on which the FBI collects data across the United States. The crimes are homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, auto theft and arson.

In comparison, Santa Clarita's crime rate was 231.25 in 2005, up from 212.56 the previous year. Los Angeles' crime rate was 434.7 per 10,000 residents in 2004, the last year for which full statistics were available.

In Lancaster, officials are considering expanding its Target-Oriented Policing unit from three deputies and a team leader to eight deputies and a sergeant, Deeley said. They would concentrate on the serious crimes listed in the FBI statistics.

``Our three big problems are gangs, drugs and parolees. Those are the areas that we are attacking,'' Deeley said.

The extra deputies added since 2004 have helped drop average response times for routine calls from nearly two hours and 20 minutes in 2004 to about 84 minutes so far this year, Deeley said. Emergency response times dropped from 5.6 minutes to 5.3 minutes.

The quickened response times might have led to an increase in reports of thefts last year, Deeley said, because crime victims may have not bothered to file reports when it took deputies so long to get to them.

Ledford believes Antelope Valley's crime is worsened by prison parolees, who number about 1,700 in the Los Angeles County portion in the valley, and whom state officials in February promised would be restricted to people with pre-existing local connections.

About 50 out of every 10,000 valley residents are parolees, compared to 32 out of every 10,000 residents statewide and 36 out of every 10,000 Los Angeles County residents, according to state parolee and population figures.

Ledford said he believes the state should spread parolees around equitably among California communities. Whether they came to the Antelope Valley because housing is cheaper than elsewhere in Los Angeles County shouldn't mean the valley gets more than its share, he said. ``I don't care,'' Ledford said. ``That's not fair.''

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Chart:

ANTELOPE VALLEY CRIME

Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department