Violent crime in Los Angeles and cities throughout Southern California dipped sharply in 1996, with crime rates in some local jurisdictions dropping faster than the national average, according to the FBI's annual crime report.
The crime report, which verifies preliminary numbers that were first made public in June, reflects an 11.6% drop in serious crime in Los Angeles, while cities such as Glendale, Long Beach and Pasadena experienced decreases ranging from 12.5% to 21%.
Nationwide, violent crime dropped an average of 6%, according to the final statistics, which will be released today. There were 9% fewer murders reported to police and 7% fewer robberies. Aggravated assaults were down 6%, and forcible rapes dropped 2%.
Property crimes were also down 2% nationwide. Burglaries led the trend with a 4% decline, followed by motor vehicle theft, down 5%; arson, down 3%; and simple larceny and theft, down 1%.
Although the FBI, as is customary, did not attempt to assess reasons for the lower crime rate, other authorities credited an increase in community policing and tougher sentencing laws. Others said a steadily improving economy was probably a factor.
But most analysts cautioned against too much optimism, despite the continuation of a downward trend that reverses an upswing in violent crime that occurred in the mid-1980s.
Some experts, such as James Q. Wilson, a criminologist at UCLA, said police must not be satisfied just with a drop in major crimes. They should not ignore small offenses, because a permissive attitude toward lesser crimes encourages a lawless attitude that leads to major offenses, he said.
"If you want to turn things around, you must show the bad guys that the good guys are in control," Wilson said. "You do that by paying attention to small crimes."
The FBI's annual report is based on data submitted by more than 16,000 city, county and state law enforcement agencies. The rate of 634 violent crimes for every 100,000 inhabitants was the lowest since 1987.
In the nation's largest cities--those with populations of 250,000 or more--violent crime dropped 7%, slightly better than the national average.
Regionally, reports of serious crimes--a combination of violent crimes and property crimes--declined 8% in the West, 7% in the Northeast and 1% in the Midwest. Reported crime was up 1% in the South.
