Police Chief puts hiring of additional officers on hold

Kenneth Ma

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Limited funds and a decrease in crime were two of

the reasons Police Chief Ron Lowenberg cited for not wanting to hire more

police officers -- at least right now.

During Tuesday’s City Council budget hearing, the chief also noted

that demand for police services has stabilized in the city.

His only request was for funds was to hire a police lieutenant to

replace the one dropped six years ago, when the city suffered the

financial effects of Orange County’s bankruptcy.

The city’s police force does “a great job of doing more with less,”

Lowenberg said. “But as the community continues to grow, we will need to

seriously consider adding additional personnel to the department in the

future.”

Between 1998 and 1999, overall crime has dropped in Surf City,

according to statistics released by the FBI this year. But the number of

murders and arson incidents have risen dramatically during the same

period.

In 1999, 29 arson incidents were reported in 1999, up from 18 the

previous year. There were five murders in the city in 1999 and none the

previous year.Included in the the homicides was the high-profile murder

of Bridgette Elizabeth Ballas, a 29-year-old resident who was raped and

left unconscious on Huntington Street during the early morning hours in

November 1999. She died two days later.

Victor Miranda-Guerrero, a 21-year-old resident, was arrested in June

and is awaiting trail for her murder.

“Five [murders] is too many; one is too many,” Lowenberg said.

“Anything we can do to try to keep the number as low as possible is money

well spent.”

Lowenberg said homicides are very difficult to predict. But for the

city’s population of nearly 200,000 and its location in a major

metropolitan area, five murders is not a lot, he said.

He said the city had an average of seven homicides a year in the late

1980s and early 1990s, adding that the number of arson cases are also low

for the city’s size and location. Councilman Ralph Bauer said curbing the

murder rate is “no easy task.”In other areas of crime, FBI statistics

show that Huntington Beach experienced decreases in rape, robbery,

aggravated assaults, burglaries, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.

Huntington Beach continues to be one of the nation’s safest cities,

Lowenberg said, despite having only 1.15 police officers to serve every

1,000 residents. The state average is 1.8, and the national average is

more than 2, he said.Lowenberg said he attributes the drop in overall

crime to three areas:

* personnel -- Huntington Beach police officers receive intense

training, many hold bachelor’s degrees and have an average of 10 years of

policing experience;

* technology -- The department uses three helicopters, an efficient

computerized dispatch system that expedites 911 calls rapidly and a

state-of-the-art crime lab that analyzes evidence, such as fibers, hair,

saliva and forensics.

* community policing -- A collaborative crime-fighting effort with

residents to create more neighborhood watches, police substations, foot

and bicycle patrols, and more enforcement for minor criminal offenses.

Bauer said he attributes the city’s decrease in crime to a

well-managed, experienced Police Department, Surf City’s law-abiding

residents, and the availability of many recreational and cultural

activities for the city’s kids to keep them out of trouble.Paula Mealis,

a resident who lives on Florida Street, said Surf City is safe because

the Police Department is doing a good job and has increased police

presence on the streets.

“They are here when you need them,” she said. “We are very

well-protected.”