“The displacement of crime is a very real problem for Glendale,” he said. “Crime will take the path of least resistance, and so when proactive policing resources resist crime in a community, they tend to displace it elsewhere.”
The Glendale Police Department has a lower officer-per-resident ratio than neighboring cities to deal with the increasing crime.
The department has 1.3 sworn officers per 1,000 residents, which is 65 officers less than Burbank, 100 officers less than Pasadena and 250 officers fewer than Los Angeles, he said.
Amid a major police officer hiring push, Los Angeles saw a decrease in violent and property crimes. Violent crimes fell from 27,806 in 2007 to 26,553 last year, according to the FBI crime statistics. Property crimes dropped from 101,457 in 2007 to 100,821 last year.
Violent crimes in Pasadena fell from 744 in 2007 to 621 last year. Property crimes also decreased from 4,304 in 2007 to 4,182 last year.
The recession, police officials said, also has caused property crimes to increase in the city.
“As the recession deepens and lasts longer, we are seeing that correlation highlighted more and more,” he said.
“This spike in property crime is very concerning to us because we are worried that violent crime may follow the same path down the road,” De Pompa said. “What we tend to see as a trend is when property crime increases, conditions are such that allows property crime to grow. It will not be long there after that we see the rise of violent crime too.”
While Burbank experienced an increase in property crimes, the FBI’s figures show a nationwide decrease in that category by 1.6%. Violent crimes also decreased throughout the nation by 2.5%.
