Showing posts with label Crime Statistics and Rates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crime Statistics and Rates. Show all posts

April 29, 2011

Crime mapping in Lakewood gets a facelift (once it comes on line)

We of course were not surprised when the Sheriff's dept. (LASD) managed to once again drop the ball on crime reporting. We applaud the LASD in trying to find a cheaper (not sure how much cheaper or if better) alternative to crimereports.com which they have been using for some time as we reported. What bothers us the most is that the city of Lakewood NEVER even mentioned crimereports.com on their website or in any other literature we can find. Why? The Press Telegram did not even mention this safu below with the transition to crimemapping.com. We mentioned crimereports.com when we first happened upon it by accident in January 2009. Only time will tell if crimemapping.com gives us better detail and more customization than crimereports.com. In addition, one must remember that these third party privately run websites are only as good and as timely as the data supplied by LASD. One must also remember that these are only incidents that are reported AND where a report is taken or an incident number is assigned. In most cases people don't even bother to report stuff to Lakewood LASD as nothing good ever comes of it. And none of us will ever know how much of that crime goes unreported. (in speaking with some recent victims of Lakewood burglaries we were told by the victims that reporting it to Lakewood LASD was a total waste of time)

When we recently heard of a rash of residential Lakewood burglaries in March and April 2011 we became even more interested in the realtime crime data. Also we learned that the LASD Cerritos substation puts out a weekly crime related email with maps and a very nice one page summary of significant crime trends (and some insight) for residents to keep on the lookout for. Now what puzzled us is why is Cerritos substation putting out these weekly crime reports when Lakewood is not? Could it be that Cerritos has more crime than Lakewood? Hardly. They also have the same Sheriff service Lakewood does. Cerritos LASD also still uses crimereports.com and will be using crimemapping.com in addition to the email summaries they are sending out unlike Lakewood LASD. Its key to note that the emailed reports come from the CITY of Cerritos (crime_information@cerritos.us), not LASD (lasd.org). So there you have it. The difference is that the Cerritos city council acknowledges that crime exists in their city and they want their residents to be aware of an uptick etc in crime or abnormal pattern and the types of crime as well as where the hotspots are. Now on the other hand the Lakewood city council (which happens to have a Sheriff sitting on it) does not want to even acknowledge that there is any crime in Lakewood as this hurts reelection. So the best way to pretend there is no crime in Lakewood is to make sure the city never officially acknowledges any (by sending out crime reports like Cerritos) other than to say at the end of the year "crime is down..." Oh great. What about the rash of burglaries in North Lakewood. Oh well those just get merged into the overall yearly rate. Problem Solved. If you want to dig a little deeper you are on your own. The city of Lakewood is not going to help you and they are not going to ask LASD to help you either. Again as we said before there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Denial is not just a river folks. Again lack of transparency is very "apparent" when you take even a little bit of a closer look at what is going on in this city.


Sheriff's online crime data unavailable as department switches software
By Brian Day, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/28/2011
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_17952798

LOS ANGELES COUNTY - Online public crime information from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is temporarily unavailable as the agency switches to a new crime reporting software, officials said.

For more than a year, the sheriff's department has provided limited information about the type, time and locations of crimes reported to the department via the website Crimereports.com. Several other Los Angeles County agencies, including the Baldwin Park, Covina and Whittier police, also provide crime information to the public via Crimereports.com.

The department has elected to start using a new system, effective this weekend, officials said, and the process has had the unintended consequence of no online crime information being posted on Crimereports.com since April 18.


"We don't know what the glitch was, but we're going to get it fixed," Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Michael Parker said.

"It was supposed to be seamless," Parker added of the transition between crime reporting systems.

The sheriff's department has paid for services from Crimereports.com through Saturday, Parker said, so it was unclear why crime data is no longer being updated. Once informed of the issue, authorities began looking into it.

Starting this weekend, Parker said, sheriff's officials will post crime data on the website Crimemapping.com, which is already used by agencies including Pasadena, Los Angeles, Arcadia and Sab Gabriel police.

When sheriff's data begins to show up on Crimemapping.com this weekend, Parker said, it will likely take a week or two to work out all the bugs.

"We expect glitches, because that's what happens when you do a big transition," he said.


Once in place, Crimamapping.com will retroactively pull all crime data from the previous six months

The switch is designed to provide better information to the public at a reduced cost to the sheriff's department, Parker said.

"We have changed systems because we found a system that was less expensive and was able to provide more information to public," he said.

Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_17952798#ixzz1KwU1TI7F



Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™ click here to receive LAAG posts by email

January 28, 2009

Suspect impersonating Sherriffs?

This is a bad start to the new year, just yesterday there was a horrible home invasion robbery. And today was the state of the city address. (No doubt there were a number of Sheriff's over there for a free lunch as opposed to patrolling) Hopefully this offender is not a repeat offender. This story as written below also does not make sense as they noted that he presented himself as a police officer (Sheriff maybe?) but then below they note "He was wearing a gray sweat shirt with red writing and black sweat pants with white stripes down the sides." How do you pull off being an officer dressed like that. Something is not right here. Also lets hope that this is not a real cop. Finally there is not much hope of catching this guy if we leave it up to "CSI" Lakewood Sheriffs.

Fake Cop Rapes, Kidnaps Girl, 14, In Lakewood

Sheriff's deputies Tuesday asked for the public's help in finding a man dressed up as a police officer before raping and kidnapping a 14-year-old girl in Lakewood.

The man shined a flashlight at two girls and presented himself as a police officer as he got out of a sport utility vehicle Friday at about 8:45 p.m. in the 12000 block of Gradwell Street, near Hawaiian Gardens, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Al Garcia.

The suspect then punched one girl, who fell to the ground, as the man grabbed the other girl, forcing her into his vehicle, Garcia said.

He drove north on Claretta Avenue, then raped the girl before dropping her off near where he first grabbed her, Garcia said.

The man was described as white, 20 to 30 years old, bald, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds. He was wearing a gray sweat shirt with red writing and black sweat pants with white stripes down the sides.

He was driving a white, four-door older sport utility vehicle with tinted rear windows.

Investigators asked anyone with information on the case to call the Special Victims Bureau at (866) 247-5877.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

January 11, 2009

CrimeReports.com..first impressions

Leave it to the City of Lakewood to make sure its citizens are the last to know about new developments that really affect them. We noticed over on www.LBReport.com that LBPD unveiled a third party crime stats website that looks pretty good so far. It is called CrimeReports.com. Users can log in to receive customized crime reports and set up an auto emailed report telling them crimes that have been reported with a certain distance from their selected address. Clearly it took some real private sector brains and capital to put this together using raw data supplied by a number of local agencies, including LASD and LBPD. LAAG has been requesting this type of site from the city for some time. It looks like this was a joint effort by multiple cities and agencies but for some unknown reason Lakewood did not want to tell its residents about the service. Nothing on Lakewood's website as of today nor any emails from the city on this new site. Of course we saw no mention of the site on the LASD.org site either which is not really surprising as the LASD.org site wins the prize for the poorest design, poorest user friendly navigation and poorest up to date information of any law enforcement agency of that size (8,000 officers and counting). Given that this CrimeReports.com site was given information by most if not all LASD contract cities, you would have thought that they would have wanted to get the word out. The CrimeReports.com site appears to have data all the way back to July 1, 2008, however we are still trying to determine when the site went live for Lakewood residents to use.

Here are things we like from what we can see so far:

* alerts can be set up and emailed to you;
* it is multi jurisdictional so that you can see crime occurring just over the city border and how your city fares compared to other cities and neighborhoods;
* it seems to be fairly up to date showing crime occurring in the current day; this will likely vary depending on when the LASD releases crime data and when the site owner updates the map; this is likely an automated schedule;
* it is Google maps based so its user friendly;
* it includes registered sex offender information and a fairly good selection of crimes;
* users can drill down by crime, location and time;

Limitations or areas requiring further study or refinement:

* Not clear on how many total days the crime info is kept in the system in a viewable way;
* Not clear how to get printable reports (as opposed to mapped reports);
* Not clear how information gets into this site or its accuracy;
* Clearly this is reported or officer observed crimes but does not report all call data where a report was not generated;
* Not clear what crimes are not on the report, such as quality of life issues i.e. noise complaints, fireworks, parking issues;
* Not clear how far back the data goes or how long it will be available on the site;
* Not clear what this is costing Lakewood taxpayers or if it is included in the LASD $9 million a year contract cost to Lakewood. From the CrimeReports.com website they report the following monthly fees:

For Universities $49/month
Up to 50K citizens $99/month
Over 50K citizens $199/month (likely Lakewood so $2400 per year)

"Custom pricing applies to agencies serving contract jurisdictions. Please contact us for additional information"

If all this costs is 2400 a year its a good deal as that is about what one day of vacation time costs the city for one LASD deputy!!

Once we work with the site in more detail we will report further. Once you have used the site please give LAAG your feed back on this crime site at updates@LAAG.us

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

November 30, 2008

What's new...more LASD proposed spending with little accomplished

LAAG does not approve of LA County Executive Officer Fujioka's $400,000 a year salary but I guess he is earning part of it by using some common sense. It looks like he has nixed a so called "gang operations center" which Sheriff Baca was promoting as part of this anti gang "proposal" (polite word for it). Baca has proven before that he is not a manager and not a cost containment or "under budget" guy nor is his department known for that.

Our problem with new "operations centers" for LASD is that they seen to turn into more "relaxation" centers than they do work centers. The $20 million dollar new substation built in Lakewood (with a huge LASD motorhome to go with it!) has not been responsible for one more arrest in Lakewood (nor would taxpayers know as no current detailed crime stats are posted for Lakewood). We need less "palace building" and more "police patrolling". The more you build these "centers" the more likely deputies will want to congregate in them as opposed to being on the street.

Sheriff Baca is also seeking "Patriot Act" types of leeway. Next I suppose we will hear the line that they want to use "enhanced interrogation" techniques. The problem with all this waiving of Constitutional protections is that it does not ever appear to yield to much in the way of real crime reduction and is often abused when placed in the hands of law enforcement with no checks whatsoever (by judges) on its abuse.

Also every time Sheriff Baca proposes something to the county its all take and no give. The taxpayers give him millions and what do they get in return from the Sheriff's?...nothing, well at least no tangible commitments in writing. Just empty promises. Not more work per deputy but more deputies hired with less work now done by each. The old union technique (also used effectively by the teachers unions in their mantra to reduce class size). Here is an example of what we get when we dole out more money to the LASD.

Another thing we dont see is more realtime crime statistics from LASD to back up this need. The devil is in the details as they say.


From the Los Angeles Times
Delays plague L.A. County's anti-gang program
The county's chief executive is expected to announce two pilot programs next month, more than a year after deadline.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-gang30-2008nov30,0,7862190,full.story

November 30, 2008

Los Angeles County leaders, who more than a year and a half ago promised to revamp their $105-million-a-year gang intervention effort, are still months away from a new strategy, hobbled by repeated delays and haggling over details.

William T Fujioka, the county's chief executive, is scheduled to unveil his plan for county supervisors Dec. 16, more than a year after the deadline first set by the supervisors. In contrast, Los Angeles city leaders moved forward months ago and have a dozen programs in place.

After much infighting, the county plan includes pilot sites in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood north of Watts and in the Pacoima area, where Los Angeles County sheriff's officials are working with Los Angeles and San Fernando police to combat gangs.

It remains unclear, however, how they will be structured, funded or monitored. Critics fault Fujioka and his staff for dragging their feet and downsizing the so-called Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy while residents of unincorporated areas of the county targeted by gangs repeatedly asked for more help.

"It shouldn't have taken this long," said civil rights lawyer Connie Rice, whose public policy group, the Advancement Project, issued a report in January 2007 that called for a massive, coordinated regional effort to fight gangs and spurred a rethinking of both city and county efforts. The $593,000 report was commissioned and paid for by the city of Los Angeles.

Fujioka and his staff have been tight-lipped about details. The presentation has been pushed back twice this month as they met with Sheriff Lee Baca and his staff and supervisors' staffers to hash out details.

At next month's meeting, Fujioka plans to ask for four more months to develop the strategy and cost estimates, according to copies of his proposal released this month to supervisors' staffers.

Central to that draft is a controversial gang emergency operations center proposed by Baca that would allow county staff to waive confidentiality laws and share information about individuals involved with or at risk of becoming involved with gangs.

Late last month, Baca made a rare appearance at a supervisors' staff briefing and spent two hours pushing the center, which he proposed a year ago. He has asked for $3 million in his proposed budget for technology and staff to run the program.

"For every week or two that goes by, we don't know if we could have prevented a gang murder or a crime with the absence of this program," he said.

Supervisors' staffers have been insisting for months that the sheriff cannot waive confidentiality to fight crime. Earlier this month, a shouting match broke out between supervisors' and sheriff's staffers at a meeting to consider the latest draft of the strategy.

Fujioka said last week that the sheriff's proposed center no longer is part of his gang proposal, calling it too costly and unnecessary to the pilot programs. He declined to release a copy of his amended proposal until he presents it to the board.

"I'm not going to support" an emergency operations center, Fujioka said. "I don't see success as contingent on having a center."

Rice said the county's anti-gang strategy is being whittled down.

"Every letter I see, the program gets smaller and smaller," Rice said. The city of Los Angeles, she noted, "is already off to the races."

Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke first called for a reevaluation of the county's anti-gang strategy in May 2007, a month after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the city's new gang reduction plan based on the Advancement Project's report. The day after Burke's call for action, supervisors voted to have county staff review the report, as well as the city plans, and report back in four months with a new county strategy.

The review was hobbled by numerous stops and starts.

Fujioka took over the project after he became county chief executive in July 2007. Two months later, he appointed a committee of city, county and community officials, including Rice. Committee members gave him their recommendations in February, then stopped meeting.

Meanwhile, Gary Hearnsberger, head deputy district attorney, stepped down as the chairman of the county's Interagency Gang Task Force, a committee that is supposed to monitor anti-gang programs. The task force also stopped meeting in February and reconvened briefly earlier this month only to be briefed by Fujioka's staff on the new strategy and select a new chairman, Peter Shutan, deputy city attorney. It plans to meet monthly.

The last countywide spending report on anti-gang programs was released in July 2007. Supervisors requested an update in June but Fujioka postponed it, even after he received supervisors' approval to hire a county analyst to work on the strategy; the analyst is to be paid between $97,000 and $127,000.

Fujioka also postponed a cost analysis of the new strategy, due in June, until later this month.

His staff said they have not started it.

Asked about the delays, Fujioka said that perfecting a new strategy -- one he hopes to expand to other areas of the county at some point -- was not a short-term effort.

"This is not a six-month, two-year program. This is a paradigm shift, changing the culture in the county," Fujioka said.

Most recently, Fujioka said, he postponed unveiling the gang proposal from this month until December "out of courtesy" to new Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who takes office Monday.

He noted that the county continued to develop and fund anti-gang programs while the new proposal was being developed.

"It's not as if the county is completely frozen," Fujioka said.

"It's important that what we roll out works and that we get buy-in from all the different departments," he added.

He said that to blame his office alone for delaying the proposal would be "unfair" and "inaccurate."

Supervisors have been hesitant to criticize Fujioka's effort.

A spokeswoman for Supervisor Gloria Molina said her boss likes what she has heard about the strategy but has questions about how the county plans to hold anti-gang programs accountable for spending.

So far this much is clear: The county's initial plan will be much smaller in scope than what Los Angeles has in place.

Under the city's plan, proposed seven months ago, gang prevention programs are centralized in the neediest 12 gang-reduction zones, neighborhoods where gang violence is four times the citywide average.

Program managers in each zone, the last of whom started work last month, will receive $1 million a year in prevention funds, enough for each to target at least 200 children.

The county efforts are slated to start in Florence-Firestone, base of operations for the rival Florencia 13 and East Coast Crips gangs, and Pacoima, where an injunction is in place against the Pacoima Project Boys.

Fujioka said he chose the two neighborhoods because they are next to city gang reduction zones and will allow for city-county partnerships, and because they will show the new strategy can work in gang-dominated areas and those where gangs are at a tipping point.

"One could always say we'll do it in five areas, the five supervisory areas, but then you run the risk of spreading yourself too thin," Fujioka said. "We want the first effort to be successful."

Supervisors' staff said they "haggled" over which neighborhoods to target first.

Last year, Supervisor Don Knabe asked that the pilots include the Harbor Gateway area of his district, where some high-profile racially motivated crimes have occurred in recent years.

Knabe's staff argued that the area was as much of a "tipping point" community as Pacoima.

Fujioka said he ultimately decided against including Harbor Gateway because the area had not seen as much violent, gang-related crime as Pacoima, based on statistics provided by the Sheriff's Department. Harbor Gateway was also not adjacent to a city gang reduction zone.

The city's newly appointed "gang czar," the Rev. Jim Carr, served on the committee that developed the county strategy and said it would not move forward unless supervisors accepted a formula for placing anti-gang programs in neighborhoods where they are most needed, across district lines. He noted that City Council members compromised and placed gang reduction programs in eight of 15 council districts.

"We'll see if the county is able to also make that jump," Carr said. "I think it's the only way. It needs to be done based on need, not politics."

In Florence-Firestone, Maria Ortiz, a mother and elementary school aide, said she and her neighbors need help now.

"They're scared," she said. "They don't want their kids to join" gangs.

Ortiz began asking the county to intervene a few years ago after her family was intimidated by Florencia 13 gang members living on their block. Now, she said, other parents regularly ask her what steps they should take to keep their children out of gangs.

She directs them to the sheriff's substation. Deputies there coordinate after-school programs and have donated movies for children to watch during summer vacations. They count on discretionary money from the supervisors to run athletic programs.

Capt. James Hellmold, the substation commander, said deputies want to help at-risk youth but are short-staffed. He said they are looking forward to more resources and a plan from the county.

"We're sort of piecemealing these concepts," he said. "It's hard to engage in mentoring a kid in soccer games when you have somebody getting mugged on a street corner."

Hennessy-Fiske is a Times staff writer.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

November 21, 2008

Graffiti and illegal use of fireworks lead to more serious crime study shows

This is an article that all cities and counties need to read. It is related to what LAAG has been saying all along. Blight and the increase of "reduced quality of life" crimes (like noise, litter code violations that lead to blight, fireworks etc.) lead to more crimes via a general feeling of lawlessness. This is the biggest complaint we have about the LASD and most cities they patrol. Small crimes and blight issues are not reported and not acted upon by cities and law enforcement and as a result overall crime increases. the biggest problem we have seen in Lakewood is the fact that even more serious crimes are going unreported as residents have totally given up on the LASD even responding at all to calls. Or if they bother showing up it is over an hour after a crime in progress is reported (usually property crimes). The officer responding sees no crime, takes no report and thus the crime statistics published by the sheriff are unrealistically low as most crime is never reported. This also increases the LASD's already dismal "crime solving rate" which they dont like to discuss. Their response to most property crimes is "hope you had insurance". Meaning you know were are never going to solve this.

We think the graffiti issue below is known by cities (which is why Lakewood has had to develop a graffiti program) but they dont like to discuss the connection to crime. Nor do they like to discuss the flip side of the issue: that more graffiti is evidence of (or rather the result of) a higher overall crime rate and as graffiti increases so does crime in that area. Why? Because graffiti is a sign of other criminals getting away with a crime and is a sign to other criminals that they can get away with other related crimes and escape detection and capture as well.

The full article form "Science Journal" is available to purchase online here

Graffiti study bolsters 'broken windows' theory
Dutch researchers find that in the presence of graffiti and trash, people are more likely to commit small crimes.

By Karen Kaplan
November 21, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-graffiti21-2008nov21,0,4825718.story

In a series of real-world experiments, people exposed to graffiti, litter and other cues of lawlessness were more likely to commit small crimes, according to a study published today that bolsters the controversial "broken windows" theory of policing.

The idea is that low-level offenses like vandalism and panhandling create an environment that breeds bigger crimes. According to the theory, authorities can help head off serious violence by keeping minor infractions in check.

Dutch researchers tested the psychological underpinnings of the theory and found that signs of social disorder damped people's impulse to act for the good of the community, allowing selfish and greedy instincts to take over. The results appear in the journal Science.

Community policing strategies based on the "broken windows" theory have taken root in cities across the U.S. and around the world since it was proposed in 1982.

Most famously, New York City saw a 50% reduction in crime in the 1990s after then-Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and then-Police Commissioner William J. Bratton -- now head of the Los Angeles Police Department -- cracked down on squeegee-wielding panhandlers and the like. They credited the "broken windows" approach for their success.

An array of social scientists examined the city's crime statistics, and many of them concluded that factors like the booming economy and decline of crack cocaine were actually responsible for the dramatic improvement.

Kees Keizer, a graduate student at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, thought psychology and sociology could add to the debate. Human behavior is influenced by three competing instincts: to act in a socially appropriate manner, to do what feels good in the moment and to maximize one's resources. Keizer predicted that when there's less motivation to be socially appropriate, the other two impulses would take over.

To test this, he attached fliers for a fake sportswear store to the handlebars of bicycles parked in a shopping area. With no trash can nearby, shoppers returning to their bikes could either take the fliers with them or litter.

A wall near the bicycles had a sign indicating that graffiti was forbidden. When the wall was indeed graffiti-free, 33% of people left the fliers on the ground or attached them to other bikes. After Keizer painted graffiti on the wall, the percentage of litterers rose to 69%.

Keizer said littering jumped because the socially appropriate instinct -- to deposit the flier in a trash can -- was overtaken by the feel-good instinct to let someone else throw it away.

In other experiments, the presence of four shopping carts strewn about a parking lot in violation of posted signs boosted the percentage of people who littered to 58%, from 30%. The sound of illegal fireworks increased the percentage of litterbugs near a busy train station to 80%, from 52%.

To see whether social disorder would induce citizens to steal, Keizer left an envelope containing 5 euros (about $6.26) hanging conspicuously from a mailbox. When the mailbox was clean, 13% of passersby stole the envelope. When the mailbox was surrounded by trash, the percentage jumped to 25%, and when the mailbox was covered in graffiti, it rose to 27%.

"It is quite shocking that the mere presence of litter resulted in a doubling of the number of people stealing," Keizer said.

James Q. Wilson, the political scientist who developed the "broken windows" theory with George L. Kelling, said the Netherlands experiments bolstered his hypothesis.

"If public authorities worry about order, it affects the way people behave," said Wilson, now the Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

But Bernard Harcourt, a professor of law and criminology at the University of Chicago who has done studies debunking "broken windows," said Keizer's scenarios were too quaint to take seriously.

"We don't care about those kinds of trivial, manipulated delinquent acts," he said. "What we care about is violence."

Kaplan is a Times staff writer.

karen.kaplan@latimes.com

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

August 11, 2008

Likely Homicide near South St. and Woodruff St.

You can bet we will not hear anymore on this from LASD (Lakewood Sheriffs). They tend to sweep things like this under the rug. No details on if the body was in a house or just on the street. But if being investigated by homicide detectives I think it is likely that it is an obvious homicide. The 5900 block of Edgefield Street is right next to the intersection of Woodruff St. and South St. This is the LASD press release


Aug 11, 2008 4:45 am US/Pacific
Woman's Body Found In Lakewood
LAKEWOOD, Calif. (CBS) ― The death of a woman whose body was found in Lakewood was being investigated today by homicide detectives, a sheriff's deputy said.

The woman's body was discovered in the 5900 block of Edgefield Street,
near Woodruff Avenue, about 6:15 p.m. Sunday, said Deputy Byron Ward of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

No further details were immediately available, he said.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

June 9, 2008

Robberies on the rise in Lakewood? LASD won't give you the info to decide

We are getting tired of learning about crime patterns and trends from local news sites like LBReport.com. For example this armed home invasion robbery near Candlewood and Bellflower Blvd on June 8, 2008 as well as a second June 6, 2008 bike jacking that residents need to be aware of especially as the criminals have not been caught and are likely to do this again. This information must be distributed by LASD directly and quickly via crime blotters. We have been asking the city council for this since June 2007! LAAG has offered to connect LASD with computer experts that could automate this function for a very low cost. Nothing has happened.

Other cities with responsible and accommodating police department's provide that information on their websites on a daily basis in an easy to understand and read format. For example this is what Santa Monica PD and Gardena PD does for its tax paying residents. This information is collected daily by LASD and it would not take much effort to publish it daily on the web for Lakewood residents. LASD is doing it in Bellflower (for some added cost to that city but the Lakewood reporting could be better, faster, more complete and cheaper) We suspect the reason it is not done is that Lakewood residents would either find out how few calls the LASD actually rolls on each day, how few crimes are really ever "resolved" via an arrest, or what the "real" crime rate is on a weekly basis. So what are we getting for 9 million in taxes a year? Not much in the way of tangible information thats for sure. Information is power and I dont think LASD wants to share any with Lakewood residents. I think with a new Sheriff Captain (Lt. Christy Guyovich who replaced Capt. Fender on April 6, 2008) in Lakewood we need to see a new level of disclosure. With all the armed robberies in Lakewood this year something has to be done.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

March 19, 2008

Murder rate not affected by police force increases

The underlying (implied) message here is that murder rates grab the headlines but is one of many violent "crimes of passion" (or crimes of opportunity) not deterred by an increased police presence, nor deterred by prosecutions or finding the suspects. The murder rate is more likely tied to the weather than it is police staffing levels, yet police love to use these headlines to get taxpayers to fork out more money for overtime and police pensions. Wake up people. Its a scam. The police and the news media (the "drive by" "sound bite" TV media at least) work hand in hand to instill fear in taxpayers hearts: if you dont give into the demands of the police union the boogey man will get you...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homicide19mar19,0,3057227.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Jump in homicides not tied to racial animosity, LAPD says
No single factor can explain the increase, officials say.
By Joel Rubin
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 19, 2008

Los Angeles Police Department officials, alarmed by the continued rise in the homicide rate this year, sought Tuesday to debunk the notion that racial animosity has been at the heart of many of the killings.

A detailed analysis of each of the homicides this year leaves little doubt that race is not the prime factor and that "the most likely suspect is one that looks just like their victim," Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said in a presentation to the department's civilian Police Commission.

By Monday, 93 people had been killed in Los Angeles this year, compared with 69 during the same period last year -- a nearly 35% increase. As the weeks pass, the bloodshed in 2008 grows worse than the previous year. Two weeks ago, for example, the increase in the homicide rate over last year stood at 27%. The rise is also outpacing those in New York City and Chicago -- cities that have seen significant, but less dramatic, increases this year, according to Det. Jeff Godown, who oversees the LAPD's extensive effort to analyze crime statistics.

In addressing the commission, however, Beck and Godown hammered on a message that top police officials have been sounding for weeks: that neither race nor any other single factor can explain the increase in homicides.

In fact, they said, department statistics for this year found that in cases in which police have information about the suspect, the vast majority of alleged assailants in the killings of Latinos were other Latinos and the vast majority in killings of blacks were other blacks.

Of 57 Latinos killed this year, 87% are believed to have been struck down by other Latinos, the LAPD data show. (Those statistics do not include several cases in which the race of the suspect is unknown and one case in which the assailant is white.)

Nearly two-thirds of black homicide victims, meanwhile, are suspected to have been killed by other blacks. In about one of every three cases, the killer is thought to be Latino -- up from 14% over all of 2007. But even in instances in which a Latino is believed to have killed a black person or vice versa this year, police insist that there is no evidence that points to race being the primary factor in the homicide.

Police Chief William J. Bratton is counting on those raw numbers to deflate what several commissioners and police officials called the "rumors" and "myth" of violent racial tensions between blacks and Latinos. True or not, that sentiment has gained credence in recent weeks with several high-profile slayings and injuries in which suspected Latino gang members killed blacks. In one case, a 6-year-old black boy was shot in the head when two men flashed gang signs and opened fire on the SUV the boy was riding in. Days earlier, 17-year-old football standout Jamiel Shaw Jr. was gunned down on the sidewalk near his home, allegedly by a member of the notorious 18th Street gang. The attacker shot Shaw after demanding to know if the teenager belonged to a gang.

The question of race-related homicides has been a prickly one for Bratton. At a recent news conference about several high-profile slayings, he angrily rebuked a television news reporter for suggesting that the crimes spoke to racial tensions.

"He's full of [expletive]," Bratton said of the reporter.

Black civic leaders, although agreeing that there is no evidence to support the notion of a full-scale, widespread race-driven battle between Latinos and blacks, cautioned Bratton and others not to downplay the idea that race has played a role in some of the killings.

"Anyone who is saying that race is not a factor at all is not completely in touch with the feelings of people on the streets," said John Hope Bryant, chairman of Operation HOPE. Referring to Shaw, Bryant said police would be "hard pressed to tell people on the streets that it is not about race . . . when two Hispanics approach you with a clear energy that is about race and shoot you dead."

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a political analyst who heads the Urban Policy Roundtable, echoed Bryant.

"They do not want to inflame tensions; I understand that," he said. "But . . . they also must not disarm a community by not fully coming to grips with the possibility" that race is a factor in some cases.

Despite the new numbers from the LAPD, authorities have said in the past that race-based violence has been a problem in some L.A. neighborhoods. Federal prosecutors last year charged members of a Latino gang with a violent campaign to drive blacks out of the unincorporated Florence-Firestone neighborhood, which allegedly resulted in 20 homicides over several years.

In the Harbor Gateway district of L.A., police launched a crackdown last year on another Latino gang accused of targeting blacks, including 14-year-old Cheryl Green, whose death became a rallying point. In 2006, members of the Avenues, a Latino gang, were convicted in federal court for a series of assaults and killings in the early 1990s targeting blacks in Highland Park.

But both police and some academics who have studied L.A. homicide numbers have long insisted that interracial violence is still relatively rare.

Apart from dissecting each homicide in search of common denominators, Bratton and his deputies have been at a loss on how to counter the rise in killings this year. In many ways, the homicide rate appears to be an anomaly, because other violent crimes, and crime overall, are down in the city.

With the so-called precursor crimes -- such as assault with a deadly weapon and shootings -- down, Bratton and Beck said they still expected homicides to taper off as the year goes on. And the city is struggling with the perception of widespread violence in part because there was a record low number of killings last year. Compared with the homicide rate for the same period of 2006, this year's figures are up only 7%.

Regardless, it has been a frustrating year, police said. "If I could find a pattern, if I could find something that I could immediately impact . . . I would," Beck said. "But the truth is that so far there is not a lot of connectivity" between the killings.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

January 4, 2008

crime lower in LAPD areas than LASD areas

This is a rather interesting article. LA Police Dept. says their crime is down and its all due to their good police work. LASD admits crime is up in the LA Sheriff Dept. areas (many of which coincidentally adjoin LAPD areas) and claim that this increase is not do to lack of work by the LASD but rather "economic and environmental" factors. This is the same BS we have heard before. Crime goes down its all the police. Crime goes up its outside factors. What is so funny is that LASD and LAPD disagree. Maybe if LASD were as up to date on their crime maps and statistics as LAPD we would see more results from LASD. LASD can't even seem to find the time to put a decent website together, which is very embarrassing given it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the country. Lets face it. Baca has to go and we need a Sheriff appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Quite frankly LAPD has benefited from outside talent searches rather than promoting staid characters from within the department that have zero management skills.

If Baca is correct, that economic or environmental factors were all to blame for the crime increase, then we should lay off some deputies as having more is not helping.

Every year at the various dog and pony show "state of the city" events in LASD patrolled contract cities (Lakewood's is in January) we hear LASD tout how crime is going down as compared to last year. Each year they pick the figures that go down and fail to mention the areas that go up or how increases fluctuate over the years due to unknown factors. Quite frankly having more police drive down the street is not going to deter most serious crimes of passion (like murders of related people, family members etc. or rapes) Police may help deter a few crimes via their visibility, the very type that increased in the LASD areas! So the next time the LASD touts how their 22 million dollar new Lakewood station is going to make you safer, ask for some details and a warranty. Quite frankly the new LASD station will do lots for the Sheriff's union members (i.e. better break rooms and nicer offices for the big brass) but little for for the taxpayers.

As far as the crime stats below take note of the raw numbers. The large percentage decrease in the murder rate is tied to the fact that there is a small number of murders overall. Just the opposite for the increases. Small percentages due to large raw numbers. The arson increases are especially interesting considering the rise of fireworks in this area and the pyros that love them...



http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-crime4jan04,1,2983566.story?coll=la-headlines-california
From the Los Angeles Times
Region sees rise in crime
Homicides are down, but the L.A. County Sheriff's Department reports a 4% uptick in serious offenses in 2007.
By Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

January 4, 2008

While homicides fell significantly, serious crime in the dozens of communities patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department rose 4% overall in 2007 -- prompting Sheriff Lee Baca to warn that a worsening economy could present a tough crime picture for 2008.

An increase in robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and other property crimes drove the crime uptick, according to statistics compiled by the department, which protects about 3 million people.

Baca said rising unemployment in some impoverished communities doesn't bode well for the year ahead.

"Our economy is driving the property crimes -- burglary and larceny," the sheriff said. "In some communities, with high unemployment, some people resort to theft."

Baca's concerns are borne out by Los Angeles County's unemployment rate, which stood at 5.3% in November, nearly 1% higher than the same month a year before. It was the largest year-to-year increase since 2002.

At the same time, however, serious crime dropped 4.9% on neighboring turf patrolled by the Los Angeles Police Department, which also recorded its fewest homicides -- 392 -- in 37 years. LAPD Chief William J. Bratton, in comments Wednesday, differed sharply with Baca in his analysis of crime.

"I will take them all on, the economists, the criminologists, all of these people who give you the baloney," Bratton said. "What makes the difference is cops focused on crime."

Malcolm Klein, professor emeritus of sociology at USC and a gang expert, said Bratton is mistaken in deriding socioeconomic factors but said it's overly simplistic to draw a direct connection between unemployment and the crime rate.

"The answers are more complex. It may be something going down nationally," Klein said.

"It's hard to believe the economy in the county areas is any different than in neighboring Los Angeles," said George Tita, a UC Irvine criminology professor. "The reality is we don't know what . . . makes crime numbers go up and down."
Baca also blamed narcotics for fueling the rise in thefts, burglaries and robberies in the more than 3,000 square miles his deputies patrol. "Drug users commit a couple of hundred crimes each a year," he said.

Baca said that his 17% reduction in homicides, coming on top of a 13% plunge in 2006, is a success story. Deputies investigated 273 slayings, down from 328 the previous year.

Compton was a bright spot, reporting a sharp drop in homicides since 2005.

That year, the city recorded 72 homicides, placing it among the nation's deadliest cities on a per capita basis. Last year, there were 38.

Baca credited aggressive gang enforcement and a close partnership with communities such as Compton for the turnaround in homicides.

"We can make a difference when it comes to gang murders, but it is much more difficult when it comes to other kinds of murders," Baca said. "In Compton the word is out that things have changed. Gang members are getting out of town."

Anti-gang deputies have concentrated on getting guns out of the hands of gang members. Last year, sheriff's officials and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives shut down a Compton gun store that had sold nearly 900 weapons that ended up being confiscated during criminal investigations.

Store employees had illegally helped criminals buy guns by encouraging them to use friends or family with clean records to pass background checks. Thousands of guns were seized during the raid.

The serious crime category includes homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assaults, burglary, car theft, larceny and arson.

Rapes declined 7%, but robberies rose 3% and aggravated assaults jumped 6%.

Burglaries climbed by 6% and larceny/thefts went up by 7%, while vehicle thefts declined by 5%.

Sheriff's officials said there was also a 12% jump in arson -- from 904 in 2006 to 1,015 last year. "That is almost three a day," said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. "It's a growing concern. We're locking arsonists up more than ever."

richard.winton@latimes.com

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

October 11, 2007

Where does Baca get his material?

Since when are "quotas" an innovative "new" form of policing? Been there done that. Management 101 Baca. Nothing in the Sheriff's department is innovative from what we have seen. Their crime stats were wrong for 2006 and it takes months for them to be posted even with the wrong data. Then they are next to unusable as there is no easy way to compare crimes, cities or date ranges. Just look at their stats page compared to other large departments like LAPD. LAAG asked for 2006 stats in spring 2007. No response. Ever. At all. Their computer systems are antiquated which is why their crime data and their response and cost data are so inaccurate. It is a big and an old department and not as nimble as smaller departments yet other departments of the same size are more "innovative". Just compare the websites of www.lasd.org with www.lapdonline.org. The difference might be attributed to the fact that LASD promotes from within (regardless of the Sheriff being elected), whereas LAPD gets chiefs through extensive job searches from the entire country. That is where they got "Broadway" Bill Bratton (we call him Broadway as he has never met a camera he did not like). The problem with sheriff elections is that there are never any real opponents. Most know once they run against the incumbent and loose their career is over.

When LAAG thinks of the LASD "innovative" is not a term that comes to mind. Lethargic, bloated, slow, bureaucratic, overpriced, inefficient, lazy, unorganized. Those are the terms that come to mind.

If LASD wants to be innovate here are some ideas to start with:

1. When people email or call LASD about an issue, respond, in the same manner, promptly, that you will look into the issue (or wont and why) and then follow up with the result (or no result). In the private sector we call it customer service. You should try it.

2. Get going on crime stats as you hold these up a some sort of a Holy Grail as to your usefulness. Look here for real ideas on innovation.

3. The Lakewood PAVE (Partnership, Accountability, Visibility, and Enforcement) Program is a beat program where deputies who work in the City of Lakewood are made accountable for specific geographical areas. In addition to their regular duties, deputies are assigned to individual beats to better serve Lakewood neighborhoods. PAVE Deputies are responsible for interacting with residents, overseeing schools and parks in their respective areas and knowing the specific concerns and issues in their beat.

LAAG requested all the contact info for the PAVE deputies to post here as it was not posted anywhere on the LASD site. The "A" in PAVE means accountability. Without ways to contact these deputies we cant hold them accountable.

4. How about a Sheriff blotter like LAAG asked for months ago? (see related story)

Baca quotes from Jack Kennedy below and in a way seems to try to compare himself to the late President. To borrow a phrase from Senator Bentsen in the 1988 debates with Dan Quale: "Sheriff, you're no Jack Kennedy"..(for details read here)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/web/la-oew-baca9oct09,1,6454891.story
Blowback
Criticism is the cost of police innovation The arrest-contest incident in Lakewood is not an indication of poor county policing, says Sheriff Lee Baca. By Lee Baca

October 9, 2007

The recent criticism of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reminded me of a statement President Kennedy made in 1961 regarding his reform-minded approach to Latin America, which at the time was causing consternation among many of the old guard in government: "My experience in government is that when things are noncontroversial, beautifully coordinated and all the rest, it may be that there is not much going on," he said. "We are attempting to do something about Latin America, and there is bound to be ferment. If the ferment produces a useful result, it will be worthwhile." Soon after this statement, Kennedy and his administration averted a global nuclear disaster that has come to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Obviously the recent criticism of the Sheriff's Department is not by any stretch of the imagination on the level of U.S. foreign policy in the early 1960s.
However, Kennedy was trying something new, and it was causing controversy.

Since I have been elected sheriff, I also have been trying something new, and it too has caused some controversy. I want every department member, regardless of their standing, to be leaders in this department so that they can act independently of the bureaucracy to do their jobs right.

In fact, when I address a room full of deputies or professional staff, I always start by saying: "I see a room full of leaders." Furthermore, I always ask department members: "What new thing am I willing to do to make a difference?"

Most recently, a leader in the Lakewood station undertook an informal arrest competition among deputies. This idea was to boost morale and increase productivity among the deputies. It was a well-intentioned, ill-conceived idea.

When you try new things, there will be mistakes.
We will not hide from them. We will be accountable. When I learned of the contests, I stopped them. I also was criticized for not being aware of the informal contests sooner. The station's captain knew about the contest and allowed it to go forward. But the key to growing as a leader is making decisions without constant interference from your superiors.

Again, I applaud the initiative but not the result. Law enforcement is not about contests, it is about quality.

I am called by some a "public safety reformer." Perhaps there's some truth to that, but that does not mean I ignore best practices of law enforcement. My deputies know what is right and what is wrong. They will stay well within the legal and moral boundaries
while applying common sense and fairness in all they do.

So how are we doing with this leadership approach to public safety?

Crime is down in Los Angeles County, with homicides and rapes down by 13.02% and 13.36%, respectively. Homicides in Compton alone are down by nearly 50% over the spike in 2005.

We are on the verge of opening a gang emergency operations center that for the first time in the history of this great county will bring together all resources under one roof to combat the scourge of gangs. We have recently opened a new state-of-the-art regional crime lab.

Our Office of Independent Review is considered the model of law enforcement oversight nationwide, with one of our OIR attorneys recently selected to run the oversight of Chicago's police department.

Our Los Angeles Sheriff's Department University has graduated scores of sheriff's department personnel with bachelor's and master's degrees, with the full support of this department. I have long held that the better the education, the better the department.

And finally, by the end of this year, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will have recruited more than 2,600 new deputy sheriffs.

When you try new ideas, pave new roads, pioneer new innovations, there is "bound to be ferment. If the ferment produces a useful result, it will be worthwhile."

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is producing a public safety result much more than worthwhile. It is one that is essential to keep us safe and secure well into the 21st Century.

Lee Baca is sheriff of Los Angeles County.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™




Sheriff Crime Blotter

LAAG asked the city and LASD for a up to date "Sheriff Blotter" which is done in many cities. It can also be combined with a daily updated crime map like this

The Sheriff and the City's response to LAAG's request below? complete silence. No response. Nice.

Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:52:44 -0700
To: "Todd Rogers, City Council" , , "Joe Esquivel, City Council" , , "Larry Van Nostran, city council" , , "Steve Croft, city council" , , "Diane DuBois, City Council" , "Howard Chambers, City Mgr" , "Sandi Ruyle, Deputy City Mgr" ,
From: "www.LAAG.us | Lakewood Accountability Action Group"
Subject: good question
Cc: "Capt. Dave L. Fender" , "Lt. Terry W. Benjestorf" , "Dep. Scott Scally" , "LBReport.com" , "LBReport.com" , karen.robes@presstelegram.com, "The Bellflower Bulletin" , "Carla Collado" , "Pose, Elizabeth" ,

Why dont we have a log/blotter like those below in Lakewood? LAAG would be glad to post/host it if we could get the feed. If we already do where/when is it posted on the internet and who edits it.? Maybe some of the 23 million being spent on the Substation could be spent on disseminating some information which costs nothing really..just a little time...and I think the Sheriff's have enough time to do it if other departments do.

LAPD does not have a blotter (it appears) but they have weekly crime maps which is almost better. LASD has nether. LAPD also has weekly crime stats.

http://www.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/2007_crime_summary.pdf

Lots of examples here..some better than others..some third party..some direct from the dept

http://www.city.waltham.ma.us/wpdweb/WalthamPDWeb/PoliceBlotter/policeblotter.htm

http://www.ci.brisbane.ca.us/html/cityDept/police/policeBlotter.asp

http://www.arcataeye.com/index.php?module=pagesetter&tid=2&topic=7

http://www.carmelpinecone.com/070622-8.html

http://cityofdavis.org/police/log/

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/lagunaniguel/article_1746216.php
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Sheriff's log
By LOIS EVEZICH
STAFF WRITER

Monday, June 25

Avila Road/Moulton Parkway, disturbance, 1:18 p.m. Juveniles were throwing debris onto the street.

Alicia Parkway, 27200 block, petty theft, 4:24 p.m. Two female juveniles were seen taking items from Mervyn's. They were taken into custody and released to their parents.

Golden lantern/Crown Valley Parkway, suspicious person in vehicle with arrest, 6:06 p.m. A man at the Shell Station had shortness of breath. Deputies called paramedics then took the 27-year-old male subject into custody. He's being held on $20,000 bail.

Port Street, disturbance, 7:31 p.m. Someone reported juveniles throwing rocks at vehicles.

Paseo de la Valle, suspicious persons, 7:29 p.m. A man came home and found his front door open. He also saw four men hiding in the bushes around the driveway next door. He called deputies because he thought there might be items missing from his home.

Sunday, June 24

Yosemite Road/Big Bend Drive, suspicious vehicle, 10:19 a.m. A silver Honda Prelude looked like its windows had been shot out.

Cascades Drive neighborhood, vandalism report, 10:35 a.m. A woman said duct tape was placed in front of her residence and it caused damage to her vehicle.

Crown Valley Parkway, 28200 block, grand theft report, 11 a.m. The manager at Ralphs suspected a former employee of theft.

Cape Drive, 26000 block suspicious person in vehicle, 5:43 p.m. A caller said a couple at Rock's Bar were acting suspiciously and letting other people buy them drinks, etc. When a male patron left the bar the woman, wearing a strapless dress, followed them out. The bartender was watching. The male part of the couple stayed in the bar. He was described as wearing a tan shirt, shorts and hiking shoes, and was missing teeth.

Saturday, June 23

Marina Hills Drive/Niguel Road, disturbance, 3:22 a.m. An unknown subject was throwing eggs at vehicles.

Avenida de la Plata, 27200 block, burglary report, 5:30 a.m. Someone took items from a residence.

Alicia Parkway, 27200 block, petty theft with arrest, 12:14 p.m. A woman with a baby was picked up for taking things at Mervyn's. While in the office she was semi-cooperative, so she was taken into custody, cited and released.

Aloma Avenue, 28800 block, battery, 1:54 p.m. A woman said her husband was hit in the face by a softball thrown from Niguel Hills Middle School. He didn't need medical aid, but went out to find who threw the ball.

Augusta Drive, 31000 block, burglary report, 3:52 p.m. Someone took items from a vehicle.

Alicia/Crown Valley parkways, traffic stop with arrest, 4:07 p.m. A 29-year-old male subject was taken into custody at a traffic stop, made bail and was released.

Alicia Parkway/Pacific Island Drive, suspicious person in vehicle with arrest, 4:44 p.m. A male subject, 24, was arrested when someone reported he had kicked in the door of the gym in the complex. He is held on narcotics violations for $50,000.

Jarrett Circle, 29700 block, assisting an outside agency, 7:15 p.m. Paramedics were called when a male subject, 94, was not breathing. They did CPR on him and took him to Mission Hospital.

Friday, June 22

Camino Capistrano, vandalism report, 9:54 a.m. Someone at Crown Valley Business Park reported damage to a cell phone.

Beacon Hill Way/Sentry Hill, fireworks violation, 1:59 p.m. Male juveniles were shooting off rockets.

Crown Valley Parkway/ Niguel Road, traffic accident, unknown injuries, 4:44 p.m. Someone on a bicycle was hit by a truck and complained of pain as well as abrasions on his or her arms and legs.

Niguel Road, 29700 block, unknown trouble, 6:44 p.m. A deputy asked for back up for a house search. A juvenile was uncooperative about letting him the house. A search was made and deputies took the boy to Juvenile Hall.

Niguel Ranch Road/Marina Hills Drive, disturbance, 11:09 p.m. Deputies picked up five juveniles who were suspected of throwing things from the Camden Court complex. They were hiding on the greenbelt between Marina Hills Drive and Hidden Hills Park. A deputy threw a flare to see them and they were taken into custody.

Mirandela Lane, 30500 block, citizen assist, 11:28 p.m. A woman reported sticky stuff was thrown onto her vehicle.

Thursday, June 21

Briones Drive, vandalism report, 12:47 a.m. Someone inflicted damage to a vehicle.

Crown Valley Parkway/Hillhurst Drive, traffic accident, 1:30 a.m. Two vehicles collided and one rolled over and may have hit a pole. A witness said one of the drivers tried to run away.

Crested Butte Circle, vandalism report, 7:55 a.m. Someone damaged property.

Pacific Island Drive, 30200 Pacific Island Drive, 8:39 a.m. Someone damaged a white Toyota 4Runner.

Crown Valley Parkway/Niguel Road, welfare check, 8:56 a.m. Someone reported an elderly woman driving in the parking lot with sparks coming from her tires. Deputies arrived and found the woman had a flat tire.

Hidden Hills Road, 24800 block, burglary report, 12:15 p.m.

Rancho Grande, 28400 block, burglary report, 12:20 p.m.

Highlands Avenue/Niguel Road, assisting an outside agency, 3:27 p.m. Three Sheriff's vehicles were asked to block off streets due to a brush fire.

Golden Lantern/Camino del Avion, pedestrian check with arrest, 4:04 p.m. A male subject was taken into custody, cited and released.

La Paz Road/Crown Valley Parkway, traffic accident, 5:51 p.m. Three vehicles collided at an intersection. One subject complained of pain.

Crown Ridge, family dispute with arrest, 10:14 p.m. The child of a couple reported that his mother and father were fighting. He called deputies who arrested a 56-year-old female subject. She was cited and released.

Wednesday, June 20

Camino del Avion/Peak Drive, welfare check, 8:19 a.m. Two men picked up an elderly man who was disoriented and had fallen down, but didn't know where to take him. Deputies took him to San Rafael in Dana Point.

Camino Los Padres, 25500 block, medical aid, 9:49 a.m. A woman lost control in an office and was throwing things around. The caller tried to keep her calm until deputies arrived. Turned out the woman was recently arrested and was being evicted from her apartment. Deputies took her to Mission Hospital.

Niguel Road/Beacon Hill Way, traffic stop with arrest, 3:30 p.m. Deputies arrested a male subject, 31, at a traffic stop. He was cited and released.

Pacific Park Drive, 24500 block, vandalism report, 6:21 p.m. Someone inflicted damage on property at the Aliso Laguna Villa.

Tuesday, June 19

Seafare, vandalism report, 9:58 a.m. Someone damaged a vehicle.

Niguel Heights Boulevard/Avila Road, stolen vehicle located, 1:16 p.m. Deputies found a black Saturn inside a storage unit that had been reported stolen. They held it for fingerprints.

Rancho del Sol, 28500 block, resisting arrest, 2:59 p.m. Deputies took a woman into custody at Patsy's Bar after her friend said she had threatened to overdose on pills.

Greenfield/Rancho Niguel Road, disturbance, 3:56 p.m. An irate customer at Café Car Wash blocked the entrance with a vehicle.

The Laguna Niguel Sheriff's Blotter was compiled by Lois Evezich from Internet reports posted by the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Contact the writer: levezich@ocregister.com or 949-454-7323
Listen to stories like this and more: Audio news & Podcasts


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™
>


October 10, 2007

Public Safety Committee is reviewing a "arrest competition" organized by LASD

Lakewood, California - Council Recap
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Issue 103 Council Recap
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 103

In other actions, the city council Announced that the Public Safety Committee is reviewing a highly publicized "arrest competition" organized by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's lieutenant. The competition was terminated by Sheriff Lee Baca after its first day as a "well-intentioned but poorly conceived" activity.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email

Crime stats take 6 months to come out and are still questionable

What is most interesting about all this was that LAAG pressed LASD for crime statistics shortly after they were "unofficially" leaked to the city no doubt as fodder in support of the $20 million in funds just expended [blown] on a new Lakewood Sheriff's substation. Of course the statistics were never provided to LAAG. We had to wait for the 2006 stats to get posted in April 2007. click here to read related article

After the article below came out then Fender of course comes out with the following:

Lakewood, California - Topping the News
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Issue 101 - Council Recap
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 101

Statistics verified
Responding to a local news media report, Captain Dave Fender of
the Lakewood Sheriff's Station reported to council members that
serious crimes in Lakewood (called Part I crimes in FBI reports)
were down about 16 percent in 2006 while "violent crimes" (a
component of the serious crimes in FBI reports) was up 10
percent. Putting the numbers in perspective, Fender said
"violent crimes" exceeded previous year's total by 36 crime
incidents, while the category of serious crime was down overall
by more than 500 incidents.

All the 2005-2006 numbers from the FBI site (As of Oct 2007):

City Lakewood Population 81192

Violent crime 2006 407
Violent Crime 2005 371
% Change up 9.70

Murder and non-negligent manslaughter 2006 4
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter 2005 0
% Change up 400.00

Forcible rape 2006 11
Forcible rape 2005 13
% Change - 15.38

Robbery 2006 220
Robbery 2005 193
% Change up 13.99

Aggravated assault 2006 172
Aggravated assault 2005 165
% Change up 4.24

Property crime 2006 2255
Property crime 2005 2788
% Change - 19.12

Burglary 2006 394
Burglary 2005 418
% Change - 5.74

Larcenytheft 2006 1427
Larceny/theft 2005 1880
% Change - 24.10

Motor vehicle theft 2006 434
Motor vehicle theft 2005 490
% Change - 11.43

Arson 2006 11
Arson 2005 16
% Change - 31.25


FBI, local crime stats don't always match
Lakewood, L.B. both reported better numbers.
By Tracy Manzer, Staff writer
Article Launched: 09/24/2007 10:41:49 PM PDT

Conflicting results were found in comparisons of local and federal crime statistics for two cities - Lakewood and Long Beach - with the release of a federal crime report on Monday.

According to the FBI's 2006 Crimes in the United States report, violent crimes have increased by more than 9 percent in Lakewood - due in part to a 400-percent jump in murders, with zero reported in 2005, compared with 4 in 2006.

Long Beach saw an increase of less than 1 percent, according to the FBI.

But those numbers do not match crime statistics released by both cities earlier this year.

Lakewood listed an impressive 16-percent plummet in violent crimes and Long Beach boasted a 4-percent drop, and its fourth consecutive year of decrease in violent crimes for 2006, at the beginning of the year.

The federal crime report is put together each year with information provided by regional, state and local law enforcement agencies, said Federal Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

Minor differences can occur with changes to data released earlier in the year by local agencies, Eimiller said.

Some data may be corrected, some statistics require updates and typos are possible, she said. Long Beach Deputy Police Chief J.J. Craig said crimes listed in the federal report under violent crimes - murder and manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault - make up only a portion of all Part I crimes.

Not all Part I crimes are violent crimes, but all violent crimes are in the Part I category, he explained.

"It's almost a sub-category," Craig added, noting at least eight other crime classifications that fall within the entire Part I crimes category and could be included in the local statistics released last March.

Lakewood spokesman Donald Waldie said Monday that the violent crimes statistics released by then-Mayor Larry Van Nostran at the state of the city address in January came straight from the Lakewood Sheriff's Station.

Van Nostran referred to the crimes as serious in the address. Waldie said the term is one the city prefers to violent crimes, but the classification remains the same.

Sheriff's authorities in charge of tracking statistics for Lakewood could not be reached for comment.

Perhaps more puzzling was the exact match for property crime statistics between the two cities and the federal report; Long Beach saw a 5-percent decrease and Lakewood a sizable 19-percent dive.

According to the federal crime report, violent crimes were up 1.9 percent nationwide, while property crimes across the country fell by nearly the same margin, dropping to their lowest level since 1987.

While the rate of violent crimes - calculated at roughly 473.5 per 100,000 inhabitants - rose for the second straight year, it is the third lowest total in the past two decades, according to the report.

Some local cities - like Artesia, Bellflower and Paramount - bucked the national increase while cities such as Avalon, Carson and Downey followed the trend to varying degrees.

Most of the local jurisdictions released their crime statistics in January and attributed positive gains to better community policing and community involvement.

Craig noted Monday that many of the decreases that occurred in Long Beach in 2006 have continued into this year, including further reductions in aggravated assaults - a category within violent crimes that covers a range of violations including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and battery.

Tracy Manzer can be reached at tracy.manzer@presstelegram.com or (562) 499-1261.

On the Net: Crime Statistics.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™




May 20, 2007

5/07 update on Lakewood Crime Statistics 2007; "lies, damn lies, and statistics"

[originally published 2-4-07 and amended 5-20-07]

For as much as the city council touts Lakewood's ever lower crime statistics you would think that the city would put all these stats on their website from year to year so that residents can really see what they are getting for their law enforcement dollar. The latest (rather scant) info posted on the Lakewood website is from 2004!! Why aren't they posted? Because the city does not want you to find or look too closely at the real crime figures and question their headlines, speeches and newsletter fodder. Once again in the "state of the city" address in January 2007 Mayor Van Nostran touts: "Serious crime dropped 16 percent last year and property crime dropped 19 percent" (the city has not yet posted the full text of the speech or details on the statistics backing up the remark). No definitions of serious crime. No indication where we are from 2000...not even an indication of what years he is comparing. Supposedly he is comparing 2006 with 2005 but that is not clear and 2006 stats were not posted on the LASD or Lakewood websites as of the date of the speech. LAAG made numerous requests for the 2006 statistics which were supposed to be posed by February but from what we can tell did not make it on to the LASD stats page until 4/12/07, even though it appears the statistics were known much earlier

When you make year to year comparisons and you have an increase one year and a decrease the next, of course they report that as a decrease..but compared to what? There is well-known saying popularized by Mark Twain: There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics. The semi-ironic statement refers to the persuasive power of numbers, and succinctly describes how even accurate statistics can be used to bolster inaccurate arguments. In other words its real easy to "cherry pick" the data and support just about any argument you want.

LAAG looked a little closer and found an example of Mark Twain's statement:

For "Part I" crimes (Murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft, grand theft auto and arson) here is what we dug up at LASD's crime stats pages:

For the city of Lakewood only; crime rate per 100,000 population (Part 1 or "serious crimes like felonies):

2001....372.6
2002....383.1
2003....387.5
2004....412.9 (9.76 percent increase over 2001)
2005....378.1 (1.40 percent increase over 2001)
2006....320.7 (15 percent decrease over 2005)

Now for comparison the city of Artesia's crime rate for 2005 (also patrolled by the sheriffs) was 266.0 or 42% lower than Lakewood's rate for the same 2005 reporting year. The City of Artesia also had a 21% crime decrease in 2006 as compared to 2005. Similarly Hawaiian Gardens had a 19% drop and Paramount had a 14% drop from 2005 to 2006. So in that light Lakewood does not appear to be that unique in the area.

Also lots of talk about the very costly Sheriff's mobile command center (really just a toy that will be outdated before the next disaster) and the $18 million new station, but not much in the way of tangible material on either the Lakewood website or the LASD website with detailed crime stats so that citizens can make informed decisions on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis.

Also no statistics comparing what each of these crimes is costing us in terms of LASD costs. Law Enforcement hates when taxpayers look at that as their costs are typically hard to justify and their enforcement efforts do not always lead to more arrests or more arrest efficiency (the true measure of your law enforcement tax dollars). Don't forget that LASD STARTING salaries are almost $60,000 per year which does not include the best benefits, vacation and overtime policy out there (far better than the private sector can afford) in addition to retiring at 50 at 90% of your highest years pay. Not bad, especially when get to kick back at a station like Lakewood which pays overtime for fireworks patrol!! (reportedly $100,000 just for July 2006)

Look at the crime stats the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department puts out. 2006 was not posted for Lakewood until Mid April 2007 LASD 2006 crime stats county wide. That is not acceptable. Also very hard to make a year to year comparison or to target areas within the city or even compare cities without manually printing everything out and doing your own math. Very user "unfriendly". For an example of how this should be done take a look here chicagocrime.org Even LAPD does a better job than the LASD and they are a similar sized agency to LASD. LAPD stats page There are other pages noting problems with crime stats: LAPD Explains the Numbers and COMPSTAT and Crime Reduction

Here is an example of why more complex statistics interfaces are needed for residents. Lets say one wants to compare the effectiveness of one parking control scheme of Lakewood with Cerritos as to its effects on auto theft. We know that Cerritos prohibits overnight parking on the street. Lakewood does anything but. If we average out the 2005 and 2006 reporting years for grand theft auto in both cities and use the "crime rate per 10,000" to control for population differences we see that the car theft rate in Cerritos was 52.2 while in the Lakewood station it was almost 84 car thefts per 10,000 people. That is statistically significant and shows that Cerritos' no overnight parking rule must be having an effect in lowering the car theft rate as that is the only difference between the two cities. On top of that it is clear from looking at the Lakewood stats that Grand Theft Auto is the second biggest number of reported "serious" crimes after Larceny (Theft)

We found a nice link for crime stats city by city to give you head to head comparisons but it only worked for two cities at a time and is from the FBI crime stats site so the latest data is 2005. But is does a good job giving you comparisons. Also make sure you focus on the rate per 100,000 people as that is the only way you can make comparisons between cities with varying populations. Just make sure you add in the other city for comparisons. (It is best to use all the cities that border Lakewood, realizing that Long Beach is the only city bordering Lakewood that has its own police force) Also note the national crime averages per 100,000 residents.

Also one feature that we are looking for is a site that shows you the officer to citizen ratio and then the costs per officer or cost per citizen for the officers. then when you look at crime stats per 100,000 you get a rough idea of how "effective" the law enforcement dollar is. The problem with law enforcement is too much is spent for very little results. If you know of such a site let us know.

Quite frankly the LASD statistics are user unfreindly, way too slow coming out to be useful and need to be presented in such a fashion that all LASD cities can easily be compared from year for long periods of time. As it stands now most police agencies are well ahead of the LASD, such as LAPD and even much smaller cities than Lakewood that have their own police department, such as Gardena with a population of 60,000 compared to Lakewood's 83,000.

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This is what you get (as of 1/07) when you search for "crime statistics" on Lakewood's website: (you dont even get a deep link to the LASD stats page)

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