Public Safety Update #1

Is crime increasing or decreasing in Long Beach?

This is the most asked question I hear when I speak at neighborhood groups. The answer depends on the time period and what crime statistics are being reviewed.

As City Prosecutor, all crimes are important to me. My office handles over 10,000 misdemeanors each year and behind crime there is a person (sometimes many people) whose lives are affected.

Although 2021 police date is not yet complete, it is clear that crime in Long Beach and many other cities in California has increased. As explained below, this increase concerns me. Long Beach needs to be vigilant to ensure this does not become a trend.

The number of violent crimes in Long Beach increased from the 1970’s until the early 1990’s when it peaked. Since the 1990’s, violent crime in Long Beach has consistently decreased, with the sharpest decline from about 1990 to 2000.

Although not as dramatic, property crime in Long Beach, like in other cities, also saw significant declines since the 1990s until recent years.

A New Trend
The steady, consistent decline in crime appears to have ended. We now see a new trend, crime is no longer dropping but rather fluctuating each year.

The charts below show recent data released by the Long Beach Police Department showing recent fluctuations in both violent crime and property crime:

Experts Watching Murder Rates Nationwide, the murder rate jumped in 2021, with experts saying it is the largest single-year increase in murder since 1905. Murder is the most serious violent crime. The murder rate did not increase in Long Beach in 2021, but other areas did not do as well.

Last year, the murder in the City of Los Angeles murder rose 12%, while in Los Angeles County it rose 41%. In the last 2 years, the rise is even more significant -City of Los Angeles murders have increased 54% and Los Angeles County murders have increased 92%.

Next Steps
My goal as City Prosecutor is to make Long Beach safer for everyone. My office studies crime data, works with police, nonprofit organizations, and community groups to create short-term and long-term strategies. Our strategies have won national awards and been described as model programs.

Feedback from residents is crucial to keeping Long Beach a better city in which to live, work, and raise a family. That is why I will be asking you to complete a survey in the next email you receive from me.
As always, do not hesitate to contact my office if you have ideas for improving our city.

Sincerely,
Doug Haubert
Long Beach City Prosecutor

(Data for the City of Los Angeles comes from LAPD. Data for County of Los Angeles comes from the Sheriff’s Department, and includes unincorporated areas and the 42 cities served by the LASD.)