Violent and property crimes edged up in Newport and Laguna in 2016, data show
Reports of violent and property crimes inched up in Newport Beach last year compared with 2015, while Laguna Beach saw a bigger spike, according to data compiled by the cities’ police departments.
The so-called Part 1 crimes, as defined by the FBI, increased by 2% overall in Newport Beach, which has a population of 87,127.
Reports of Part 1 crimes in Laguna Beach, which has a population of 23,250, jumped 10% overall, data show.
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Laguna Beach saw an 18% rise in reports of violent crimes — homicide, rape, robbery and assault likely to cause serious injury. The increase was driven mostly by 12 rapes (an increase of four from the previous year) and 15 robberies (an increase of seven).
The number of aggravated assaults declined from 28 in 2015 to 25 last year.
Laguna has not had a homicide since 2012.
In Newport Beach, violent crimes declined nearly 2% in 2016 compared with 2015.
Newport had one homicide in 2016 and two in 2015.
“Newport Beach is a safe city,” Police Chief Jon Lewis said. “When we’re talking about a 2% crime increase — while we don’t necessarily want to see any increase — we also understand that theft crimes, especially burglary and auto theft, is what’s driving that 2%. It’s not violent crime or things that are significant safety concerns.”
Reports of forcible rape, the only violent crime that increased in Newport Beach in 2016, numbered 34, up from 20 in 2015.
Newport Beach’s crime and intelligence analyst, Caroline Staub, said the rapes that were reported were cases in which the victim was acquainted with the attacker.
“I don’t think we’re seeing an actual increase in incidents,” Staub said. “I think we’re seeing an increase in reporting because people are finally feeling comfortable and saying, ‘Yes, something wrong did happen to me and I’m OK saying so.’
“In the past, I think a lot of rape victims have felt shame and would not come forward.”
The vast majority of Part 1 incidents last year in Newport Beach, as is typical, were property crimes, which include burglary, theft, auto theft and arson. Reports of those crimes increased about 2% overall, driven mostly by 438 burglaries (up by 44) and 158 motor vehicle thefts (an increase of 23).
Property crimes, which also make up the majority of crimes committed in Laguna Beach, increased about 11%, driven by 82 burglaries (up by 23) and 436 thefts (an increase of 31).
Seven cases of arson were reported in 2016, an increase of five. Auto theft declined slightly.
Lewis said Newport Beach’s large number of visitors, especially during the summer, adds to the city’s potential victims and can result in an increase in crime.
Law enforcement officials have attributed a general crime increase over the past two years partly to more criminals being released as a result of prison realignment and California’s Proposition 47, an initiative passed in November 2014 that reclassified some drug and theft crimes as misdemeanors carrying lesser penalties.
However, Richard McCleary, a professor of criminology, law and society at UC Irvine, said it’s “highly unlikely” that those who have benefited from prison realignment and Prop. 47 are committing Part 1 crimes.
McCleary emphasized that the overall crime increases in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach are slight and that it’s difficult to draw conclusions about the cause.
“There is very little a police department can do to reduce the crime rate,” he said. “One of the things they do, which they don’t get a lot of credit for, is they make us feel better about living in society.
“It’s not the crime itself that harms society, but it’s the fear of crime because people are so afraid of being victimized they don’t use parks, they keep their children out of school, they don’t shop at certain stores. And the economic cost of that fear is incalculable.”
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