FBI crime statistics bare a few good trends

Alicia Robinson

Costa Mesa had the fourth-highest number of violent crimes reported

out of nine Orange County cities in 2003, according to statistics

released Monday by the FBI.

The 304 violent crimes in Costa Mesa in 2003 numbered far fewer

than Santa Ana, the county’s top-ranked city in terms of both

population and violent crimes, with 1,788 reported. Newport Beach’s

115 reported violent crimes ranked eighth, followed only by Fountain

Valley.

In Costa Mesa last year, the FBI statistics showed one murder, 42

rapes and 112 robberies. The most common offenses were property

crimes, of which 3,586 were reported. When compared with 2001

statistics, crime went down in most areas except forcible rapes,

which went from 28 in 2001 to 42 in 2003, and larceny/theft, which

went from 2,595 to 2,665.

The number of property crimes is tough to decipher, because it

could be any of a variety of incidents, Costa Mesa Councilman Allan

Mansoor said.

The Costa Mesa Police Department does a good job working with the

community on quality-of-life issues as well as crimes that are

immediate threats to the community, he said.

“I think our chief and our department are doing an outstanding

job,” Mansoor said. “Clearly, they do focus on the high-priority

crimes.”

Statistics specific to Costa Mesa were not available for 2002.

Police spokesmen were unavailable for comment.

Newport Beach is new to the FBI statistical report this year,

because in the past, statistics weren’t broken down for cities its

size.

The 2003 numbers showed Newport Beach having no murders, 16 rapes,

27 robberies and 72 aggravated assaults. There were 2,526 property

crimes reported in the city.

“Historically, we have always had a relatively low crime rate, and

I think we can attribute that to a number of factors,” Councilman

Steve Bromberg said.

The city uses its own police force rather than outsourcing to the

county Sheriff’s Department, and city law enforcement officers are

committed to community policing, Bromberg said.

“We have police officers assigned to specific neighborhoods, not

just beat areas,” he said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].