Attitude

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By HOWARD FINE

Staff Reporter

The numbers say crime is down, way down, throughout L.A. In some areas, violent crime and theft have plunged to levels not seen in decades.

But beyond the numbers and the loud claims of credit from politicians and law enforcement officials the decline is helping spur the region’s economic vitality.

The signs are everywhere.

At Chattom Jewelers on Alvarado Street across from MacArthur Park traditionally one of L.A.’s most crime-plagued areas owner Paul Ocampo says his business has increased because more shoppers are willing to venture out.

“Just look at all the people you see outside right now,” Ocampo says, pointing to the crowds along Alvarado Street. “Three or four years ago, you didn’t see nearly as many people. They feared getting mugged, or didn’t want to deal with all the people selling dope in the street.”

A few miles to the southwest, AMF Midtown Lanes, a bowling and skating complex on Venice Boulevard, used to close at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. But AMF manager Janice Waite decided last summer to keep the lanes open until 1 a.m.

“My patrons tell me they are going out later because they feel safer,” Waite said. “This is especially true of the 25-and-older crowd.”

And in downtown L.A., United Parcel Service last year opened up a sorting facility on Main Street that replaced an aging facility in Vernon. The delivery service had at one time considered moving the facility outside L.A. County.

“As the crime situation improved, we found we were able to attract better-quality employees, which was an incentive to stay in the region,” said UPS spokesman Oscar Sepulveda.

In these and many other examples, business is reaping the benefits of the changing attitudes about crime a reflection of what’s been happening in cities all over the country.

In Los Angeles, violent and property felonies have plunged 47 percent from peak 1991 levels, and 12 of the city’s 18 police precincts recorded declines in such felonies of 20 percent or more between 1996 and 1998. All 18 reported decreases, ranging from a low of 8.9 percent in the downtown Century division to 28.2 percent in Rampart.

In Long Beach, felonies fell 39 percent between 1995 and 1998, while in Pasadena, the number of those crimes fell 37 percent during that time.

In Santa Monica, despite several high-profile shootings late last year, including the killing of a German tourist, felonies plunged 34 percent from 1995 to 1998, reaching the lowest levels recorded in that city since 1963.

And in unincorporated county areas and the 40 cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement service, crime is down 31 percent from 1995.

Sociologists and other experts attribute the trend to a confluence of factors: an improving economy, tougher sentencing laws and a multibillion-dollar federal program to put more police on city streets. Indeed, local business owners cite the greater police presence as playing an important role.

Whatever the reasons, the results are striking. Businesses are staying open longer and moving into areas they might have avoided just a few years ago. People are more willing to stay out later or venture into neighborhoods they used to avoid. And tourists are once again crowding the streets of Hollywood.

As people become more convinced that crime is falling and see the increased presence of cops on the streets the tendency is to be more relaxed as they go about town, especially in troubled areas like Alvarado Street, Mid-Town, or Hollywood.

“When crime is down, the benefits are enormous,” said Mark Kleiman, a professor of crime policy at UCLA. “Not only are there direct economic benefits as people go out more, there is also the psychological benefit of people’s ability to walk freely in their neighborhoods, which is too large to measure.”

Not that the fear of crime has gone away, especially in certain areas of Los Angeles, where gangs remain a problem.

“Fear of crime may have come down just a bit, but it is still way out of proportion to the reality,” said Barry Glasner, professor of sociology at USC, who is completing a book on the culture of fear.

Glasner’s comments are underscored by patrons of the Mid-Town shopping center at Venice and San Vicente boulevards. “Crime is just as bad as it ever was,” said Mid-Town resident Ginelle Longwell. “I still walk up and down the street with a stick up my coat” for protection.

In addition, there has been no sign of homeowners and businesses canceling their contracts with private security companies like Westec Security Inc. and Security One Inc. In fact, the state’s Economic Development Department projects that from 1995 to 2002, the number of private security guards in L.A. County will grow by 30 percent, to a total of 55,830.

“There are still gang shootings and an increasing sense of futility in trying to deal with gang members,” said Natalie Macias, who heads the L.A. County Sheriff Department’s community law enforcement partnership program. She cites places like Lennox and neighborhoods around Carson, noting “people in these areas don’t yet feel part of a larger community.”

Nonetheless, there are unmistakable signs of change in many parts of Los Angeles based on the numbers themselves, as well as individual experiences.

“We see the police cars and we feel safer,” said Yuhri Sano, owner of Idol Land, a seller of Japanese videos, magazines and compact discs in Monterey Park. Three years ago, she said, Monterey Park law enforcement officials set up special patrols concentrated around that city’s retirement complexes.

“Before the patrols were set up, older people were afraid to come out at night,” Sano said. “But now, the retirees come out with their families more often. They go to eat and then some of them come in my store.”

More police are also making a difference on Alvarado Street in the heart of the Rampart area. “People are reassured when they see more police cars,” said jewelry store owner Ocampo. “That is the main reason they are coming back to this area.”

Some of the changes, while small, are nonetheless significant. The decision by Book City in Hollywood to stay open later on weekends, for example, was based on the store’s ability to find employees willing to work until 10 p.m. Up until last summer, there had been no takers.

Local police officials credit the increased public confidence about safety to increased patrols and more community policing.

“We have put more cops on the street and people see them,” said LAPD Commanding Officer Jim McDonnell, who heads the southwest operations and support division and had previously served in the community policing group.

“But it’s not just numbers. We are also using the officers more intelligently now,” he said. As an example, the LAPD in 1994 reduced the size of the average patrol grid each officer was assigned, while at the same time reducing the workload that goes along with each grid.

“Part of the free time is used to go out and talk with the business owners and residents, to allow them input on what the problems are and have them help set priorities,” McDonnell said.

Questions, of course, remain: how much lower crime can go, and are the attitudinal changes now taking shape just a short-term pattern or more long-lasting (as were the fears of the ’70s and ’80s). Some suspect that improved business conditions in various parts of town reflect the booming economy and not so much a falling crime rate.

“During the recession, we would get a lot of browsers who really felt the pressure to save and resisted that urge to purchase,” said Linda Brooks, owner of the Paper Factory gift store in Old Pasadena, which for several years has been perceived as a safe locale. “Now, though, people have more money to spend.”

But then there is Long Beach property manager Gene Johnson, who sees a direct connection between low crime and improved business.

“Five years ago, people coming to my buildings would get one look at the area, see people hanging around on the streets, and there would be a higher tendency for them not to lease,” Johnson said. “Now, the majority of people especially women still express concern initially. I show them police statistics and I encourage them to talk to other tenants in the buildings. They are now far more easily convinced that it’s a safe area and they are more likely to lease.”

Does Johnson better reflect what’s going on? Does Brooks? The answer could help determine L.A.’s comfort level going into the 21st century.

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