La Mirada Sheriff's News: LM crime is down over 10%

Violent crime is down 23%

La Mirada-   A recent spike in the number overnight car burglaries, most of them left unlocked and a
rash of thefts in the southern industrial area during September and October do not take away from the big picture. The La Mirada crime rate is down 10.4% from last year and violent crime is down even more.

That is a fact La Miradans and our Sheriff's Department can be proud of because we were already the safest city of any neighboring on both sides of the Orange County line.

Of course a low crime rate doesn't matter if you come home to find a ransacked home, and fortunately, this is a seldom occurrence in our fair city.

When examining Part I crimes, a statistical standard set forth in the FBI's Uniform Crime Index incorporating data from every policing agency in the nation of violent and theft incidents La Mirada deputies have recorded 751 Part I crimes through October 31.

There were 838 reports of crime in 2017 during the same period in the city.

Reported incidents of violent crimes were down in all four categories and totaled 66 during the first ten months in 2018, a drop of 23.26% from the 86 reported on 2017.

                                   2017         2018         Change
Homicide                     2                1               -1

Rape                             5                3               -2

Robbery                       27              17            -10

Aggravated Assault    52              45             -7

Totals                            86              66            -20

Projected over a complete year the total would be 79, and narrowly missing the lowest violent crime rate in decades by only a five in 2010 when just 74 were recorded.

When compared to nearby cities at a rate of per 10,000 residents you can see La Mirada adds up nicely when data of violent crimes are examined.

La Mirada     159
La Habra       163
Fullerton       240
Whittier         294
Buena Park   297
Cerritos         308
Norwalk         411

California       445
United States 386

Property related crimes is also down in 2018 falling from 752 through Oct. 31 in 2017 to 685 during the same period this year, an 8.91% decline.

Burglary                       118           108         -10

Larceny Theft *           514           473         -41

Vehicle Theft                120           101         -19

Arson                             0               3             +3

*Larceny theft included vehicle break-ins, shoplifting and other incidents of theft not related to taking of a vehicle, or burglary of a dwelling.  Does not include identity theft crimes.