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RB crime drops for 4th year in row
by George Wiley
For the fourth straight year, the number incidents reported to police in Redondo Beach fell off.
Most categories of major crime were down.
According to statistics released this week by the Redondo Beach Police Department, only larcenies (thefts) showed a slight gain from 1998 and police attributed that rise to reported thefts from vehicles. Overall larcenies rose from a total of 1,275 reported in 1998 to 1,298 reported in 1999. Vehicle thefts accounted for 298 or 22.96 percent of the reported larcenies in 1999.
Reported rapes stayed even at 12 in both 1998 and 1999. Robberies fell from 84 in 1998 to 70 in 1999. Aggravated assaults were down from 107 reported in 1998 to 82 in 1999. Burglaries fell from 344 in 1998 to 313 in 1999. Thefts of vehicles were down from 281 in 1998 to 255 in 1999. Arson fires were cut in half, from six in 1998 to three in 1999.
Homicides also were cut in half, but the numbers were small. There was one murder in Redondo in 1999, compared with two reported in 1998.
Overall major crimes were down 3.68 percent from 1998 to 1999, police reported.
Total actual offenses fell from the 2,117 recorded in 1998 to 2,039 recorded in 1999.
A longer-term look shows that on average, the crime rate has been falling since 1995. Compared to 1995, major crimes in Redondo were down by 39.98 percent in 1999, police reported.
In 1999, Redondo, a city of 6.35 square miles and 66,800 residents, spent $15,168,860 on fighting crime.
Last year the department hired on 18 new employees, bringing the department staff to 160, including 106 sworn officers and 54 non-sworn employees.
In 1999 the RBPD took in 59,129 calls for service, and logged an average response time of 3:45 minutes for major crimes. There were 9,180 crime reports taken, leading to 4,159 arrests.
Infractions accounted for 339 arrests, misdemeanors 3,063, and felonies 757.
There were 12,086 traffic citations issued by Redondo police as well as 496 arrests for driving under the influence. Police reported 504 traffic collisions, 221 of which resulted in injuries. There were no recorded traffic deaths.
Altogether, police also reported there were 4,852 items logged into evidence in 1999.ER