As crime rises, Long Beach leaders are looking for solutions

Long Beach city leaders and residents are calling for action and solutions to quell violence amid a recent double-digit crime increase.

Although the city ended 2014 with a historic 42-year low in violent crime — and its lowest murder rate on record — it has seen steady increases in most crime categories ever since, mirroring trends in several major cities nationwide and Canada.

Theories on what is causing the increases abound as the City Council awaits a detailed report on violent crime, gun violence, what steps police and city staff are taking to address the increases, and what additional measures police could take if the department had more funding.

That report is being compiled and will be presented to the council sometime in the next few months, but no exact date has been set.

The statistics

Violent crime is up by 13.1 percent from January through April this year compared with the same period in 2015, said Deputy Chief Richard Rocchi, who oversees the Long Beach Police Department’s Patrol Division, during a presentation to the City Council on Tuesday. Shootings are up by nearly 42 percent compared with January-April 2015, with about a third of them being gang-related.

Long Beach police have recorded 11 homicides year-to-date, representing an 83.3 percent increase versus the first four months of last year, Rocchi said.

But percentages can be deceiving. Crime numbers are low enough that any increase will produce a significant percentage spike, Rocchi said.

When compared with the five-year average, this year’s January-April homicide rate is flat, according to department data. Violent crime, however, is up 17 percent and property crime spiked by 8.6 percent compared with the average.

Rocchi, in a phone interview, said the increases could be attributed to any number of issues, such as early release of criminals due to jail overcrowding, socioeconomic factors and legislation, such as AB 109 and Proposition 47, but proven answers are in short supply.

AB 109 shifted supervision of certain convicts from state prisons and parole agents to county jails and probation officers, and Proposition 47 reduced some felonies to misdemeanors.

Quelling the violence

Police are employing a number of short- and long-term strategies to curb violent crime, Rocchi said. The department uses crime analysis to adjust resources and deploy officers to parts of the city they’re needed most.

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Through April of this year, the department’s public safety realignment team has performed 213 compliance checks and made 93 arrests, Rocchi said at Tuesday’s meeting. Gang court order, more commonly known as gang injunction, accounted for 82 arrests year-to-date versus 69 through the end of May 2015.

Police have also seized 186 guns this year versus 139 this time last year and are targeting local and regional narcotics to reduce gang funding, he said.

A way forward

While police combat crime in the short term, department leaders are working with city officials on long-term solutions.

“We work closely with our city partners in [health and human services], public works, code enforcement. ... It’s a collaborative approach,” Rocchi said.

Key parts of that plan are Safe Long Beach, the city’s violence prevention plan; the My Brother’s Keeper initiative and organizations such as Pacific Gateway, he said.

Public cooperation in fighting crime is also essential, Rocchi said, adding that residents should report crimes when they see them.

Christine Petit, hub manager at Building Healthy Communities: Long Beach, one of 14 sites that are part of the the Califoia Endowment’s 10-year Building Healthy Communities initiative, said residents living in areas where violent crime has increased are conflicted.

People are afraid and want to depend on police for their public safety needs, but some say they are conceed about how police interact with them, Petit said.

“This sentiment was most recently expressed to me by a resident whose son and his friends had a gun drawn on them by an officer stopping them for playing handball at the park a few minutes after curfew,” she said. “This mom said she wants police in her neighborhood due to the violence, but she doesn’t want the police to be violent with her child.”

Long Beach needs more emphasis on community-based, prevention-oriented strategies such as mental health and substance abuse resources, opportunities for youth, increased access to quality education and good jobs, Petit said.

Rocchi, at Tuesday’s meeting, mentioned conces over the effects of Proposition 47 and AB 109, but said that evidence that the two are contributing to the crime increase is largely anecdotal. Empirical evidence, however, is being gathered on their effects.

Community approach

Residents say programs and activities at neighborhood parks during weekend and evening hours are needed, Petit said. Such programs would be positive, community building outlets for youth and adults.

“Safe communities have strong networks where neighbors know one another and work together to bring about the change we want to see,” she said. “As we seek to reduce crime, we must invest in resources to increase these networks and strengthen our neighborhoods.”

Seventh District Councilman Roberto Uranga said the Wrigley District, which is part of his area, has seen a number of high-profile incidents, but that statistics show crime is actually trending downward.

One particularly encouraging sign is strong use of Nextdoor, a neighborhood-based social networking website and application where residents can report crime or suspicious activity, Uranga said.

“Neighbors are reporting crime as it happens,” he said. “[The] ‘if you see something, say something,’ [message] is working.”