Safest City

Is it me, or is it more than just mere coincidence that the recently acclaimed safest city in the United States, Simi Valley (May 3), is also the same place that backed and supported the police in the Rodney King saga. MICHAEL A. GLUECK Newport Beach

WASHINGTON - If you've driven in the nation's capital, you already know this: It's full of bad drivers.  A new report from Allstate Insurance Co. confirms it, putting the District of Columbia at the bottom of the list of the safest-driving cities, with the average motorist involved in a crash every 4.7 years.  Nationally, the average driver gets into a collision every 10 years. Safest city: Sioux Falls, S.D., where the average driver has a collision every 13.8 years. Next are Boise, Idaho; Fort Collins, Colo.; Madison, Wis.; and Lincoln, Neb., according to the report.

Irvine is the sixth-safest city in the nation, and Huntington Beach placed third among medium-size cities, according to the latest annual rankings from Money magazine. Irvine was third last year and No. 1 in 1994, but Police Chief Charles Brobeck said such shifts are insignificant, driven by changes in the magazine's rating criteria. "As long as we stay in the top 10, I'm very happy with that," he said. Amherst, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo, placed first, as it did in 1996.

It has been nearly two weeks since Imette St. Guillen's body was found along a desolate roadside in Brooklyn, and many New Yorkers can recite from memory the shreds of evidence in the case: the hotel-grade floral quilt wrapped around her, the cat hairs adhering to it, the tube sock stuffed in her mouth. Those who have followed news coverage of her slaying speculate about what happened around 3:30 a.m. that Saturday, when St.

Thousand Oaks has received $262,500 in federal money to subsidize the hiring of four more police officers. It is the only Ventura County city to benefit from $604 million in grants announced by President Clinton on Wednesday to hire more police in the continuing effort to reduce crime.

WASHINGTON - If you've driven in the nation's capital, you already know this: It's full of bad drivers.  A new report from Allstate Insurance Co. confirms it, putting the District of Columbia at the bottom of the list of the safest-driving cities, with the average motorist involved in a crash every 4.7 years.  Nationally, the average driver gets into a collision every 10 years. Safest city: Sioux Falls, S.D., where the average driver has a collision every 13.8 years. Next are Boise, Idaho; Fort Collins, Colo.; Madison, Wis.; and Lincoln, Neb., according to the report.

For the second year in a row, Irvine is America's safest city among municipalities with populations greater than 100,000. Huntington Beach ranked No. 8. The list, compiled by Morgan Quitno Press of Lawrence, Kan., based on recent FBI crime statistics, takes into account both violent and property crime rates. "I am thrilled," Irvine Mayor Michael Ward said Thursday. "It says a lot about our Police Department, our city staff and the citizens of Irvine. It's a cooperative effort.

Five people were shot or stabbed to death over the Thanksgiving weekend in San Jose, a city noted by the FBI for its low crime rate. Police said the first to die were Jeff Souza, 44, and his 49-year-old wife, Beatrice Souza, whose bodies were found in their home Friday afternoon by her son, John Villasenor. "It was either a murder-suicide or a double suicide," officer Gina Tepoorten, a spokeswoman for the San Jose Police Department, said Monday. "They were both shot."

Re "Blowing Smoke," Sept. 22: The Mission Viejo City Council is coming up with new regulations on cigarette smoking in public, and on its Web site boasts that, according to the FBI, it is the "safest city in America." What is obscured is that this city contaminates the Aliso and San Juan creeks with pathogenic bacterial counts equivalent to those found inside a toilet bowl during use, according to Orange County Health Department testing. It has refused to implement new regulations on urban runoff and is spending hundreds of thousands from local coffers to litigate.

Have you checked out the new concentration camp in Simi Valley? It seems the safest city requires drug-cartel-type security for its new post office. Maybe they plan on using it for a lot of prison movies. Seems like a bit of overkill to me. But what do I know? We might be planning to declare war on Thousand Oaks and their unprotected post office. Yeah--and I'll bet we win. GARY HOWELL Simi Valley

In an early indication that Mayor James K. Hahn's record on crime could become a key issue in next year's mayoral race, several candidates on Tuesday questioned whether Hahn was delivering on his promise to make Los Angeles "the safest big city in America." Hahn has made public safety the centerpiece of his administration, frequently touting his role in cutting crime and often appearing at public events with LAPD Chief William J. Bratton.

Seven California cities were among the nation's 10 most crime-free large cities in 2003, and two Ventura County suburbs topped the list again, FBI and census figures show. Thousand Oaks nudged rival Simi Valley from the top spot among cities with at least 100,000 residents last year, the ninth straight year one of the two communities on the western flank of the San Fernando Valley ranked first. In Los Angeles County, Glendale and Santa Clarita ranked fifth and seventh, respectively.

Five people were shot or stabbed to death over the Thanksgiving weekend in San Jose, a city noted by the FBI for its low crime rate. Police said the first to die were Jeff Souza, 44, and his 49-year-old wife, Beatrice Souza, whose bodies were found in their home Friday afternoon by her son, John Villasenor. "It was either a murder-suicide or a double suicide," officer Gina Tepoorten, a spokeswoman for the San Jose Police Department, said Monday. "They were both shot."

Five Southern California cities ranked among the top 10 most crime-free large cities in the U.S. last year, FBI and census figures show. Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks in Ventura County ranked first and third, respectively, followed by the Los Angeles County cities of Santa Clarita and Glendale, which placed sixth and ninth, respectively. In Orange County, Huntington Beach was eighth. Sunnyvale and Daly City, both in Northern California, placed fourth and seventh, respectively.

Already the safest city in the most crime-free urban county in the West, Moorpark solidified its position last year as a prosperous and peaceful retreat from the national trend of rising crime. As crime rates ticked up across California and the nation, the fast-growing Ventura County bedroom community of 33,000 people became safer.

Re "Blowing Smoke," Sept. 22: The Mission Viejo City Council is coming up with new regulations on cigarette smoking in public, and on its Web site boasts that, according to the FBI, it is the "safest city in America." What is obscured is that this city contaminates the Aliso and San Juan creeks with pathogenic bacterial counts equivalent to those found inside a toilet bowl during use, according to Orange County Health Department testing. It has refused to implement new regulations on urban runoff and is spending hundreds of thousands from local coffers to litigate.

Four years ago, we moved from Boulder, Colo., to Thousand Oaks. We chose T.O. because statistics show it is the "safest city" in the nation. I have seen articles about this in your newspaper every year. I was very proud to be in T.O. and didn't install a security system. On the first of April I there was a burglary in my home. All my jewelry and watches are gone. On top of that, the burglar charged my account to purchase an airline ticket (my credit cards are not stolen though). I am surprised at how inefficient the Ventura County Sheriff's Department is. In this country, the Justice Department can spend millions of taxpayers' dollars to prosecute people like O.J. Simpson.

The nation's safest large city became a little less secure last year as suburban Simi Valley suffered a string of high-profile homicides, and a 30-year-old handyman was charged as the serial rapist who terrorized local women and then killed a college student in a freeway assault. "It was a tough and unusual year," Police Chief Randy Adams said. "We had more homicides and tragic events in six months than we'd had in three or four years." Ranked as America's safest city with at least 100,000 residents, Simi Valley saw crime tick upward 1.8% in 2001 from the previous year as incidents of violence jumped nearly 10%. Police reported 1,736 serious crimes last year, down from 3,556 at the peak in 1992.

The FBI considers Irvine one of the nation's safest cities, a master-planned community where nagging issues range from lawn maintenance to the early morning howl of leaf blowers. But there's a new debate in town: gun control. A city councilman has drafted a proposal that would be among the toughest gun laws in the state, making it nearly impossible for new retailers to sell firearms. All in a city where gun violence is minimal.