The Antelope Valley experienced a record number of homicides in 2003, a fact law enforcement officials attribute largely to gang activity that has spread from Los Angeles County's urban core to its most remote suburban reaches.
The rise in the number of killings -- 43 for the year, up from 26 in 2002 -- mirrors unsettling developments in neighboring Ventura County, where officials also cited increased gang activity as a factor in the doubling of homicides in 2003.
The numbers demonstrate the increasing threat that such regions as Ventura County and the Antelope Valley -- with their mix of rural, urban and suburban characteristics -- are facing from violent street gangs, said Ed Cohn, executive director of the National Major Gang Task Force.
"You are starting to see gangs and threat groups moving out to [these] areas," Cohn said. "For one, they probably think they can get away from the law enforcement and criminal justice scrutiny that they go through in the urban areas."
The Antelope Valley's previous record for homicides in one year was 34, in 1992, according to Capt. Frank Merriman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide bureau.
Officials, however, say the per capita homicide rate is actually about the same as it was 11 years ago because the area has experienced rapid population growth in that period, from 258,000 people in 1992 to 311,000 today.
In 2002, Lancaster and Palmdale were listed as the 41st- and 47th-safest communities, respectively, in the FBI's ranking of 232 U.S. cities with populations over 100,000. And local officials say the valley remains a safe place to live.
"Let's be real here," Lancaster City Manager James Gilley said. "It's terrible compared to what we're used to, but it's great in comparison with the rest of the world. In L.A., you'll have 15 homicides in one weekend."
Most disturbing to police, however, is the fact that as many as half of the High Desert's homicides in 2003 were gang-related, underscoring the broader threat posed by violent gang members who once operated almost exclusively in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. David Berger, who was assigned to Lancaster in February 2002 to address gang-related crime, said an increased gang presence also explains the increase in the rate of serious felonies in Lancaster over the last four years.
The rate of serious crimes -- including homicide, rape and robbery -- was 257 per 10,000 people in 1999. The projected figure for 2003 is 420 serious crimes per 10,000 people.
