Police Chief Memo Cites Crime Stats For First 9 Mos. of 2011

(Dec. 27, 2011) -- Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske has made public on her non-taxpayer-paid blog (www.gerrieschipske.com) an informational (non-agendized) memo to the Mayor and City Council from Police Chief Jim McDonnell indicating that during the first nine months of 2011 (January through September) compared to the same period in 2010:

• Violent crimes were up by 1.2% (26 crimes)
• Property crimes were up by 11.2% (965 crimes)
• Total Part I crimes (violent crimes [murder, aggravated assault, rape, robbery] + serious property crimes [arson, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft]) are up 9.2% (991 crimes)

The memo notes that in 2010, LB had the fewest number of crimes in forty years.

As first reported in November 2011 by LBReport.com, Long Beach is currently on track to have fewer murders in 2011 than in 2010 (when LB had its lowest number of murders in roughly forty years). LBReport.com noted that over half of 2011's murders were concentrated in relatively small parts of the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th Council districts. Coverage, click here.

The Dec. 9 memo from the Chief of Police doesn't include the fourth quarter of 2011, a period in which LB had 14 shooings in 12 days (from Nov. 23-Dec. 4) (listed and shown on map by LBReport.com, click here. Half were in North Long Beach (Council districts 8 and 9); the other half were mainly north-of-downtown-Central LB: three in the 1st district, two in the 2nd district and two on the 6th district.

The Chief's memo cites citywide crime statistics which, by definition, combine conditions in LB's safest areas with LB's more crime impacted areas...without indicating where those respective areas are.

The memo also cites a figure we haven't seen used before: comparing 2011 data to a "five year average" (2006-2010). On that basis, violent crimes are down 10.2% (244 crimes), property crimes are up 1.0% (93 crimes) and Total Part I crimes are down by 1.3% (152 crimes).

[LBReport.com comment: During this period (2006-2009), LB gradually increased its police staffing (including filling vacant positions) and by fall 2008 had reached 961 budgeted sworn officers (available for routine citywide deployment, not inflated by counting 59 officers contracted to and funded by the Port, Airport, LBUSD, LBCC, LB Transit). The figure also included 17 replenishment police academy class recruits (that never materialized in FY09).

At its height, LB City Hall only provided taxpayers with a budgeted per capita level available for routine citywide deployment of about 2 officers per thousand residents. By comparison, L.A. provides its taxpayers with about 2.3-2.4 officers per thousand and Signal Hill about 3 per thousand.

In January 2009, then-Police Chief Anthony Batts publicly warned about management plans to reduce police staffing. By fall 2009, he'd exited Long Beach for Oakland.

In September 2009 and September 2010, the City Council (without dissent) voted to balance City Hall's spending budget by cutting 140 budgeted sworn officers.

In 2011, the Council voted 6-3 (Schipske, Gabelich, Neal dissenting) to cut roughly ten additional officers, including some gang and homeland security tasked officers (although not as many in these categories as originally proposed by the Mayor/city management). The Council majority also voted in September 2011 -- for a third year -- not to fund a replenishment police academy class to replace retiring/exiting officers.

The Council's actions have "balanced" City Hall's budget by leaving LB with a per capita police level roughly equivalent to Los Angeles cutting LAPD's level by over 25% of its officers.