Crime in Fountain Valley drops 25.2%

Angelique Flores

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- For the seventh year in a row, crime in the city has

dropped.

According to the California Crime Index, crime fell 25.2% last year.

“We’re proud, and we hope it continues to drop,” Mayor Guy Carrozzo said.

Violent crimes -- which include homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated

assaults -- were reduced 27.8%. Property crimes, which include

residential and commercial burglary and auto theft, were reduced 24.4%,

according to the California Crime Index.

Fountain Valley Police Chief Elvin Miali attributes the decline to the

city’s dedicated police force and support personnel, as well as the

department’s rapport with the community.

Councilman Chuck Conlosh, a Huntington Beach police officer, said he

believes the three strike law has affected crime.

“We’ve scooped up a lot of these criminals with that law,” Conlosh said.

The biggest drop came in robberies, which numbered 66 in 1998 and fell

54.5% to 30 in 1999.

One murder was reported in the city last year -- that’s down from two the

year before.

Arson saw the only jump, going from five incidents in 1998 to eight in 1999.

“These numbers don’t necessarily indicate a trend,” said Chief Bernard

Heimos of the Fountain Valley Fire Department.

Heimos said that because of the department’s increase in staffing and its

education efforts, the fire investigation teams may have been able to

identify more fires as arson.

However, Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona last week warned that the

dropping crime rates may not last. Young men between the ages of 16 and

25 commit most of the world’s crime, and he said statistics show there

will be a swell of men in that age group beginning in 2005. That could

translate into more crime, he said.

But Miali said he’s not convinced things will be as bad as Carona

predicts.

“I don’t think we should start pointing the finger at a generation and

say that they’re going to be the bad children,” Miali said.

The economy also has an influence on the crime rate, he said. He said if

strong family ties continue to develop and children are taught respect,

the law will prevail.