Irvine is safest city in nation

By: toger Mood: don't know Date: 09/27/2007 08:17:10 Music: None

New FBI statistics show crime in Orange County dropped 5.6% in 2006.

Home sales aren't the only thing dropping in Orange County. Crime fell in 2006, while for the third straight year, Irvine was the safest large city in the nation, according to FBI data released Monday.

Orange County saw a slight drop, 1.2 percent, in violent crimes compared with 2005, while property crime fell 6.2 percent, resulting in an overall decline of 5.6 percent.

It's official: Irvine again had the lowest rate of violent crimes of any big city in the United States – including homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. A preliminary FBI report in June showed Irvine as a peaceable town. Monday's report confirmed it. Violence fell from 151 reported violent crimes in 2005 to 126 in 2006, for a rate of 67 per 100,000 people.

"It's a communitywide effort," said Irvine Police Chief David L. Maggard about the low crime rate in the city. "It's the collaborations that we have in the schools, community, neighborhoods and business district."

While violent crime generally dipped in Orange County, it rose by 8 percent in Santa Ana – which could be blamed on an upswing in gang violence in 2006.

Facing nine more murders in 2006 than the previous year, Santa Ana added 10 detectives to the gang unit, said Police Chief Paul M. Walters.

"We've seen a tremendous change since that's happened," Walters said. "We are on track to have an 8 to 10 percent decrease in violent crimes for 2007," he said, adding that homicides were down nearly 27 percent through August.

Santa Ana saw a drop in property crime, pushing down the city's overall crime by 12.4 percent.

Across the nation, violent crime increased 1.9 percent in 2006 for the second consecutive year.

While the rate of violent crime – 473.5 per 100,000 people – continued to creep up, it remains the third lowest total in the past two decades. Nationally, property crime rates dropped to their lowest level since 1987, according to the FBI data.

The nation's robbery rate rose more than 7 percent, making it the highest increase in any crime category analyzed in the FBI report. The report compiles data from more than 11,700 law enforcement agencies across the nation.

The national crime trends were generally mirrored in Orange County, with seven of the eight largest cities – Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine and Orange - recording a drop in property crimes. All eight cities, however, recorded increases in robberies.

There were 19 more murders in Orange County's biggest cities in 2006, with Santa Ana recording nearly half of the increase.

However, arsons, auto thefts and other property crimes dipped across the country for the second straight year.

Huntington Beach saw a 12.6 percent dip in violent crime, making it the 18th safest large city in the United States. The city was less safe for possessions, however, and saw a nearly 7 percent increase in property crime.

Across the county in Irvine, the city continued to build a reputation for its low rate of violence.

"Irvine makes our largest investment in the budget toward public safety," Irvine Mayor Beth Krom said. "We are very proud of the public safety staff and appreciate their efforts in ensuring that Irvine remains a safe community for all."

The Irvine Police Department is in the process of hiring 14 more officers, which would increase the police force to 191 officers in a city of 188,535 residents.

The FBI’s 2006 Uniform Crime in the U.S. report can be found at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/documents/06tbl08.xls