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Murders Increase 28% Since 2011; Res. Burgs Increase Roughly 24% (Citywide) Since 2011, 33% since 2010; LB City Hall Says Violent Crime At Historic Lows; Read Its Release



(Jan. 2, 2014, 5:45 p.m.) -- Combined with a news conference today (Jan. 2), Long Beach City Hall has issued a release (full text below) headlined that "2013 crime statistics show lowest reported violent crimes in 41 year." The release cites what LBPD calls "preliminary crime data" which are "citywide" crime stats (necessarily combines highest and lowest reporting crime areas.)

A preliminary analysis by LBREPORT.com notes:

  • Murders have increased nearly 28% since 2011, a figure the release doesn't report. Instead, the release cites the change from 2012 (30) to 2013 (32) showing a 6.7% increase. [2011=25 murders (a historic low); 2010=31 murders; 2009=40 murders; four year average=29.5; five year average=31].

  • The release says "slight increases" are "expected" in the reported residential burglary category (1.0%)...but doesn't mention that residential burgaries increased 23.1% from 2011 to 2012...meaning [we presume] reported residential burglaries are roughly 24% higher than they were two years ago. The 2011 increase came on top of a 2010 increase in residential burglaries of 9.3% the year before, meaning [rounded/rough math] that from 2010 through 2013, reported residential burglaries in Long Beach (citywide) have increased roughly 33% (about a third.)

  • The release acknowledges that 19 of the 32 murders in 2013 were investigated as gang related...but LBREPORT.com notes that in August 2012, Mayor Bob Foster recommended a city management-proposed budget that (if it had been adopted as proposed) would have cut LBPD funding to a level that would have entirely eliminated its field gang unit (22 sworn officers). In Sept. 2012, the Council provided funding for half the previous field gang unit (11 sworn). In August 2013, under pointed questioning by Budget Oversight Committee chair Councilman Gary DeLong, LBPD management acknowledged that due to exits and other assignments, the field gang unit at that time had roughly 6-7 sworn officers and handled the workload with overtime. [LBREPORT.com has no idea what sworn staffing for the field gang unit is entering 2014.]

City Hall's release text follows verbatim:

[LBPD release text] Based on preliminary crime data, Long Beach ended 2013 poised to achieve the lowest number of reported violent crimes in 41 years. When compared to 2012, the 2013 violent crime statistics reflect a decrease of over 13.5%. Property crime statistics also showed an 8.5% decrease. The Total Part 1 Crime reduction was 9.3%.

"The continued downward trend in overall crime reflects the City's ongoing commitment to public safety," said Mayor Bob Foster. "I am thrilled that we are experiencing some of the lowest crime rates in the history of our City, and I want to commend the Police Department, its employees, and our entire public safety continuum for their exceptional efforts."

The Police Department anticipates that the final 2013 statistics, which will be available later this month, will reflect decreases in the violent crime categories of rape (11.3%), robbery (10.0%), and aggravated assault (17.4%) as compared to 2012. Murder is the only violent crime category reflecting an increase of 6.7%, with 32 murders in 2013 compared to 30 in 2012. Of the 32 murders, 19 were investigated as gang related. The total number of rapes (102 crimes) and robberies (1,114 crimes) are the lowest on record.

In the property crime category, which includes larceny (theft), burglaries, grand theft auto, and arson, the greatest decreases are projected in bike theft (25.6%) and petty theft over $50 (20.0%). Throughout the year, auto burglaries trended down, with an expected year-end decrease of 18.4% (450 crimes). Slight increases are expected in the petty theft under $50 (5.5%) and residential burglary (1.0%) categories.

Police Chief Jim McDonnell attributed the property crime reductions to an increase in community awareness, participation in crime prevention efforts, and to the professionalism and hard work of the men and women of the Long Beach Police Department.

"Although we've experienced reduced staffing levels in the last several years, I am tremendously proud of and impressed with the outstanding performance and commitment our employees demonstrate to the people we serve," said Chief McDonnell, "We also welcomed 40 new officers to the field last month and look forward to another academy class to continue our community partnerships and crime fighting efforts in 2014."

L.B.P.D. continued to partner with law enforcement agencies at the local, county, state and federal levels to leverage available resources to impact crime in Long Beach. In 2013, the Department focused attention on the use of social media as a conduit to improving communication with the community and introduced a new mobile application to streamline the community's access to the Police Department's social networking tools. To receive information of news stories, alerts and events, visit: www.nixle.com or www.facebook.com/longbeachpd.ca or @LongBeachPD_CA on Twitter.

The final year-end statistics will be available in mid-January on the Police Department website.

Further to follow on LBREPORT.com.



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