by Carolyn Seitz
cseitz@mindspring.com
On the first page below you can compare Altadena's Part I crime rates against all other areas serviced by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. You'll note that our Part I crime rates are 15.5% lower than they were in 2007, but 13.4% higher than they were last year when we were still experiencing a month to month decrease in crimes, especially burglaries and thefts/burglaries from vehicles over 2009 and 2010 reported crimes. Burglaries have generally increased over all of Southern California, and other parts of the country. One of the biggest increases in Part I crimes are robberies. You will have noted in the last few Crime Blotters distributed by the Sheriff's Station that the local grocery stores, drug stores and convenience stores have experienced robberies. In many of those instances, the "robber" was caught shortly after the crime was committed, thanks to quick notification to law enforcement that a robbery was in process or had just been committed and the quick action by the sheriff's deputies.
You find the breakdown of Part I crimes on the second page below and in the attachment. Robberies are up 50.3% over the same period of time last year. We continue to show a consistent rate for the number of rapes reported. The detective lieutenants at Altadena Station, and ours is now Lt. Michael White, continue to indicate that in almost every instance of rape reported, the rapist is reported to be known to the victim or the rape was committed as an act of domestic violence.
For those of you who haven't yet heard the news, a burglar was apprehended Wednesday morning, thanks to the vigilance of neighbors. Some of the local listservs included information being shared between neighbors about someone suspected of breaking into vehicles. The deputies and detectives at the Altadena Sheriff's Station have made many arrests of burglars over the last few months, and when we find news stories about Altadena residents who have been arrested in nearby cities, caught in the act of burglarizing homes or vehicles, we've reported that as well. New burglars continue to show up and the only way we can have an impact on them is to continue taking the following actions:











































