KTLA News: "Rising crime rates in the San Fernando Valley" (1980)

[KTLA Reporter Tony Valdez] This is the Los Angeles Police Department Valley Communications Center. It's the place where your calls for help are relayed to police cars in the field. This has become a hot and hectic place to work. Take a look at the crime figures, and you'll see why. [Valdez] Compared to this time last year the overall crime rate is up by eleven percent. [Valdez] And as alarming as that figure is, individual crime statistics for some major felonies are worse. [Valdez] Auto theft, up by almost eighteen percent. [Valdez] Burglary, up by nearly twenty two percent. That's over twelve thousand homes broken into in the Valley alone. [Valdez] Rape is the most staggering statistic. A nearly forty seven percent increase. [Valdez] Two hundred fifty one women sexually assaulted in the Valley this year. And authorities believe many more attacks went unreported. [LAPD Commander] I think it's a citywide phenomenon. When we're experiencing an economic downturn as we are, and unemployment is at a high rate, then people tend to steal more and be involved in crime more than they otherwise would. Additionally, we have quite an undocumented population in the Valley. And the undocumented people are becoming more comfortable with reporting crimes to the police department because, they're being convinced that we're not interested in their, ah, in their resident status. And so as they gain confidence through the programs that we have in the Latin community, ah, we get more crimes reported. Which is of course what we want. [Dispatcher] This is emergency, may I help you? [Background voice] What happened? [Officer] Yes, yes. [?] [Unintelligible voices] [Unintelligible voices] [Pencil taps] [Officer] Are you in the vicinity? [Officer] Did anybody there see the guy with a knife? Okay, so, ah, she'll direct the officers when they get out there then? All units in the vicinity, caller now. At two, zero, eight, seven, five Collins. Twenty sixty seven handler call. Two, zero, eight, seven, five Collins. Caller now. No description, code two. [Dispatchers talking over each other] [Stamper thump] [Background voice] Okay, we can take a report over the phone, what's your phone number? [Officer] Okay, and what's your phone number? [Female operator] Sixteen, eight, fifty three, did you clear? [Unintelligible] He's at the rear. Sixteen, [Valdez] Not all the numbers are as bad as those already mentioned. [Valdez] Robbery in the Valley has grown by just a bit over two percent. [Valdez] And with forty three homicides this year, that's still a decrease of close to seven percent. [Valdez] Many police departments say they're caught in the middle, [Valdez] between budget cutbacks, manpower shortages, and what appears to be a national crime epidemic. [Valdez] Public apathy makes matters worse, so the simple advice is to take the time to prevent a crime. [Valdez] And if you see a crime, report it. For News at Ten, Tony Valdez. [Valdez] Commander what's happening out here in the Valley? Why is crime going up, well over ten percent? [Commander] Well, basically of course, crime prevention is a, is a community responsibility and the community in the Valley has historically, ah, done very well with regard to that responsibility. I think that what people need to do is to lock their homes. A tremendously large percentage of our residential burglaries are, are successful because homes are left unlocked. They just simply walk in the door. Cars need to be locked. And, and, neighbors need to talk to neighbors to determine, what kinds of things, they should be discussing with one another in the event that one of them isn't home. What kinds of things should wind up being reported to the police department, so that we can work together. [Valdez] What about our other part one crimes, like homicides, auto theft and so on? [Commander] Well, ah, with auto theft again, of course, you have to lock your car, and if you have something real fancy, ah, some real high-performance car. Then there are a lot of people who like to steal those particularly. So you ought to keep those things in your garage, I would say. But, ah, with regard, [Valdez] Rapes and homicides? [Commander] Well, rapes and homicides really are not the kinds of crimes that we consider to be, repressible. That is to say, that, ah, they don't, they do not lend themselves so much to, ah, to prevention. Because they tend to be crimes of passion and, there are certainly some things that women can do to prevent rape. Ah, and there are certainly, ah, some things that ought to be done. But, but with regard to homicides those are largely crimes of passion, and, and result, ah, ah, among, between people who know one another. And there isn't a whole lot that the police department can offer in terms of prevention. Okay. Eight, [Unintelligible] [Officer] Okay, what's your telephone number out there? Is this a white guy, a Negro, Mexican? Can you see the guy with the knife? [Background voice] Well, [?] Okay, well as soon as you see him pullin' up out there, ah, just go over and tell the officers which guy has a knife then. Okay, thank you. [Bang] [Unintelligible] [Officer's voice] Is it a personalized license plate? [Voice] Is it a California plate? [Voice] Well, okay. We're just trying, [Overlapping voices]