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Crime Stat Disconnect: City Officials Claim "Crime Is Down" While Residents Describe Increased Neighborhood Impacting Crimes: Fifth District Fact-Check


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(March 18, 2018, 12:45 p.m.) -- Residents of ELB's 5th Council district have taken to social networks to describe an increase in neighborhood-impacting crimes ranging from ransacked cars, thefts of items from vehicles, porches and backyards to sawed off catalytic converters. Mayor Robert Garcia has acknowledged the perception citywide but attributed it to social networks amplifying news of the crimes. But 5th district Councilwoman, Stacy Mungo -- facing re-election challengers Corliss Lee and Rich Dines -- has told her constituents that "crime is down" citing LBPD crime statistics. Is this true?

LBREPORT.com fact-checked the claim using publicly available LBPD crime statistics. LBPD's publicly reported crime statistics show that from 2016 to 2017 (the most recent annual data available), nearly all 5th district neighborhoods experienced increases in total non-felony neighborhood impacting crimes (maps and details below.) During the same time period, serious property related crimes decreased by 18.4% in LBPD's East Division (Council districts 3, 4 and 5 combined.)

Councilwoman Mungo has boasted of the latter while not acknowledging the former.

[Scroll down for further.]

Background and methodology

LBPD (and nationwide) crime statistics consist of (serious/felony) crimes against persons and against property while "Part 2" crimes include all crimes not included in Part 1 crimes (basically non-felonies usually not involving arrests.) "Part 2" crimes include (not a complete list) stolen property, "non-aggravated" assaults, criminal mischief, drug abuse, drunkenness, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, loitering and the like. LBPD issues monthly reports for its "divisions" (north, south, east, west) but each division includes more than one Council district. To see the data for each Council district and each neighborhood requires accessing LBPD's neighborhood-level crime data...which we did.

Below are Part 2 crimes for LBPD's neighborhood-size crime reporting districts, with accompanying maps for reference.

PART 2 CRIMES

Lakewood Village area


District20162017Change #Change %
6711923+4+21.0%
6722631+5+19.2%
6731427+13+92.8%
6741615-1-6.25%
6761624+8+50.0%

LBCC to Wardlow Rd. area


District20162017Change #Change %
6820712+5+71.4%
6831013+3+30.0%
6881110-1-09.0%
6891411-3-21.4%

Wardlow Rd. to El Dorado Park


District20162017Change #Change %
6841012+2+20%
6852630+4+15.3%
6860111+10+1,000%
6871021+11+110%

El Dorado Park east


District20162017Change #Change %
6852630+4+15.3%
6651017+7+70%
6922641+15+57.7%
693003+3+300%
6954057+17+42.5%

5th District Central-South (includes Bellflower/Spring & Plaza areas)


District20162017Change #Change %
6610823+15+53.3%
6622821-7-25.0%
6632519-6-24.0%
6642737+10+37.0%
6651017+7+70.0%
6411928+9+47.3%
6422542+17+68.0%
6512227+5+22.7%
6521015+5+50.0%
6534063+23+57.5%
6543759+22+59.4%
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During the same time period, LBPD's East Division (a combination of parts of Council districts 3 + 4 + 5) reported a decrease of 18.4% in "Part 1" (serious) property-related crimes (Res Burg, Auto Burg, Comm'l Burg, Garage Burg, Grand Theft, Petty Theft, Bike Theft and Grand Theft Auto.) (Since Nov. 2014, Prop 47 now treats these crimes as misdemeanors if they involve property of $950 or less.) At the March 15 Lakewood Village candidate forum, and in her March 16 emailed "Neighborly News" and her officially submitted ballot statement Council incumbent Mungo referred to drops in these Part 1 crimes as reductions in "neighborhood crime" without mentioning that neighborhood-impacting Part 2 crimes had increased in nearly all 5th Council district neighborhoods.

There is no official LBPD definition or nationally recognized definition for the term "neighborhood" crimes. All crimes, Part 1 and Part 2, are obviously committed in some neighborhood. Whether residents consider public urination/defecation, ransacking one's car, stealing items worth less than $950 from one's vehicle or porch or backyard, or loss of one's vehicle's catalytic converter to be "neighborhood crimes" is for residents to decide. However, they aren't within the category of crime decreases cited by Councilwoman Mungo but they are within a crime category that has increased in nearly all 5th district neighborhoods.

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There's reason to believe residents in other Council districts are experiencing a similar disconnect between what city officials say and residents experience daily in terms of neighborhood impacting crime. Social networks continue to include detailed descriptions (including photographs) of neighborhood-impacting crimes in various Council districts. In addition, Part 2 crimes may be under-reported by their victims compared to Part 1 (more serious) crimes. Further to follow...on LBREPORT.com.

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