POLICE FACING NEW CHALLENGES IN 2000 CRIME SCENE TO CHANGE IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - Identity theft will become more prevalent than muggings during the 21st century, say local officials, who also predict broadening their community-based policing systems and employing more high-tech tools to fight crime.

Patrol officers anticipate being able to check motorists' fingerprints during routine traffic stops and to put quick ends to high-speed chases by using a laser to disable fleeing vehicles.

But authorities say they also will have to learn how to fight different types of crimes. As the Internet booms and reliance on cash lessens, officials foresee a reduction of street crime but a rise in white-collar, computer-related offenses - particularly identity theft.

``There is a freedom of movement that a lot of different kinds of criminal activity will occur without stepping foot within your back yard,'' said Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks.

Gene Stephens, a consultant who predicts crime trends, said local law enforcement agencies may have a difficult time in dealing with computer crimes - at least in the beginning.

``By 2005, high-tech crimes will be so complex that police will do no more than take reports and hand it over to another agency to deal with it,'' he said. ``People are being trained, but it's not there yet.''

Law-enforcement agencies will have to continue their usual fight against crime - an effort that has regularly earned Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks high rankings on the list of the nation's safest large cities.

Analysts said the key to fighting crime in the future will be community-based policing, where officers step out of their cars, meet people and talk with them about ways to make, or keep, their streets and homes safe.

``It's a people business at heart,'' said Brooks, who has been in law enforcement for 27 years and sheriff since June 1998. ``The minute we separate from the public and their assistance, we're in trouble and we're probably not doing it right.''

Brooks said the Sheriff's Department, which patrols unincorporated county areas and contracts for service with Moorpark and Thousand Oaks, is looking into increasing the number of storefront operations, and foot and bike patrols.

Stephens said a personal touch is imperative because some officers and departments see their role as punishing criminals rather than preventing crimes from occurring.

He likens that mentality to the law enforcement practiced by Wyatt Earp in the days when lawmen were present simply to keep order.

``Hopefully, the Wild West days are going to end, and as they end we are going to have to turn away from the cowboy type of policing and into the professional policing,'' Stephens said.

``The smarter ones, they want that,'' he said. ``They want to be professionals. They don't want to be cowboys.''

Simi Valley Police Chief Randy Adams said community involvement has always been an important component in the department, and officers consider crime prevention a large part of their job.

``We do not see ourselves simply as crimefighters, we see ourselves as problem-solvers,'' Adams said. ``If we are able to go out into the community and figure out the cause of the problems, we can rally our city services to help deal with the cause. We see that as a better use of our resources rather than keep responding to the same problem.''

Law enforcement officials also said they are excited about the new tools being developed for their use, most of them adapted from military technology for civilian agencies.

They include more effective, less lethal alternatives to firearms such as soundwaves, new projectiles or chemicals, as well as global positioning systems that enable dispatchers to know exactly were officers are at all times.

Adams and Brooks said they are watching for a device being developed that enables officers to pursue a fleeing motorist by targeting the car with a laser fired from a police helicopter.

But many of the gadgets are still several years away. The Dick Tracy- type tools will roll out initially to national agencies and eventually to local departments as manufacturers develop more cost-effective ways to make them.

Still, like anything else, local officials said just because there is a product out there doesn't mean they can to afford to have it.

It will be up to those who hold the purse strings to determine if the tool is worth the price they'd have to pay.

Although much of the world is now focused on the future with the coming of the year 2000, agencies have been working toward new ways of doing things for years.

The Sheriff's Department is in the process of creating the Ventura County Justice Information Center, which will allow local agencies to share data.

``Very often, information we need to solve a crime is available somewhere, but the people doing the investigation can't get it,'' Brooks said. ``The new system will allow investigators to tap into the records of other agencies.''

Whether predictions being made at the dawn of a new millennium come true is for future generations to determine. But one thing is for sure, there will be plenty of crime to keep police officers busy during the next few centuries.

``Going back through recorded history, when Cain picked up a rock and slew Abel with it, human behavior has been pretty consistent,'' said Paul Miller, a Simi Valley city councilman and former Simi police chief. ``I don't think we're going to see human behavior change that much, frankly, in the next 500 years.''