HEAT WAVE DIDN'T HELP CHILL CRIME.Byline: SUSAN ABRAM and DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writers Last month's record-breaking heat wave finally fizzled, but criminal activity sizzled in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. during that time, contributing to an increase in violent crime, officials said Monday. ``Would (criminals) just head for cover and stand down? Unfortunately, even with the impact of the heat, we saw an increase in violent crime,'' said LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. Deputy Chief Michel Moore, the Valley's commanding officer. The month of July was one of the hottest months on record, and almost as humid, weather forecasters said. From July 6 to July 26, the Valley sustained 100-plus-degree temperatures, including an all-time Los Angeles County record of 119 in Woodland Hills. At the same time, humidity ranged from 40 percent to 70 percent, with unseasonal tropical moisture drawn from the Gulf of Mexico Noun 1. Gulf of Mexico - an arm of the Atlantic to the south of the United States and to the east of Mexico Golfo de Mexico Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east . The result was a 21-day cauldron in the L.A. Basin that prompted heat advisories, emergency shelters and widespread power outages as air conditioners hummed into overtime. Two people even died from the heat in Los Angeles County, the Coroner's Office said. But criminals still went to work. The LAPD's Valley bureaus reported 174 instances of violent crimes for the week ending July 22 compared with 130 the week before. Violent crime includes homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults. Street robberies, which increased by 9 percent citywide from June 24 to July 22, dropped in the Valley, but contributed to the bulk of overall violent crimes. There were 52 street robberies the week ending July 22, compared with 87 the week before. But some divisions saw success, Moore said. In North Hollywood, there were 19 reports of violent crimes for the week ending July 22, compared with 47 the week before. ``Officers weren't (just) sitting in their cars with the air conditioning on,'' Moore said. ``But we still have challenges. Persistence is helping us in identifying these criminals, but we just need to continue to do that on a broader scale.'' This week, police could get some help thanks to the burners suddenly cooling. Insufferably in·suf·fer·a·ble adj. Difficult or impossible to endure; intolerable. in·suf  fer·a·bly adv. hot commutes have turned to cool misty drives under a dank dank adj. dank·er, dank·est Disagreeably damp or humid. See Synonyms at wet. [Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin. marine layer that has hugged the hills each morning. The Valley forecast this week is for low clouds and fog in the morning with cooler-than-normal highs in the 70s to mid-80s. ``We're finally getting our beloved June gloom -- Southern California's natural air conditioner -- the first week of August,'' said Bill Patzert, a climatologist cli·ma·tol·o·gy n. The meteorological study of climates and their phenomena. cli  ma·to·log and research oceanographer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation).Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. in La Canada Flintridge. ``And I'm lovin' it i'm lovin' it is an international branding campaign by McDonald's Corporation. It was created by Heye & Partner, a longtime McDonald's agency based in Unterhaching, Germany, near Munich, and a member of the DDB Worldwide Communications Group, Inc. . ``(But) my advice to Angelenos: Enjoy it now, because we've still got the Santa Anas of August and September to look forward to.'' susan.abram(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3664 |
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