Two rapes were reported to the Seal Beach Police Department in January and three reported in February, according to crime statistics recently released under the California Public Records Act. March data was released after this week’s editorial deadline and will be examined next week. There were no rapes reported in March.
There were also five robberies reported to SBPD during that same period.
As for the rape cases, according to Sgt. Michael Henderson, public information officer for the SBPD, “Two cases were referred to the DA. We are conducting additional follow-up investigation on one of the cases.”
The police have released no further information. “I cannot discuss specifics about ongoing criminal cases,” Henderson said.
Asked if the statistics included other sexual assaults in addition to rape, Henderson said, “Rape is a crime classification unto itself. A sexual assault would be classified under assaults. However, if through follow-up investigation by the Detective Bureau, there are facts that indicate the crime should be re-classified from rape to a sexual assault, then that may not be reflected in the Return A form.”
The “Return A” form to which Henderson refers is a monthly Uniform Crime Report of crimes known to the police.
According to statistics that the SBPD recently released, there were three rapes reported in Seal Beach last year. Those crimes were reported in March, April and May 2017.
Asked how women could protect themselves, Sgt. Henderson said, “The National Center for Victims of Crime has a website dedicated to stalking prevention (http://victimsofcrime.org/our-programs/stalking-resource-center).” For safety tips, he also referred to http://victimsofcrime.org/our-programs/stalking-resource-center/help-for-victims/stalking-safety-planning
Overview of Janaury and February crime numbers
In all, there were 67 crimes so-called Part One crimes reported to SBPD in January 2018 and 43 in February 2018.
That compares with 43 reported in January 2017 and 68 reported in February 2017.
The January 2018 crimes included four robberies, nine assaults, five burglaries, three vehicle thefts and 44 larceny thefts, which include such crimes as picking pockets, theft from cars and shoplifting. The February 2018 crimes included one robbery, six assaults, four burglaries, zero vehicle thefts and 29 larceny thefts.
The March crime statistics were released too late to be included in this week’s Crime Log. The Sun has requested the April 2018 crime statistics.
One thing to keep in mind is that all these numbers could be changed based on subsequent investigation by the police. A footnote that accompanied the January and February statistics promises that if the SBPD finds contradictory information, the agency will make the appropriate corrections.
As for the other January and February crimes:
Robbery
Robbery is the application or threat of violence to take money or property from a victim. In January 2018, one robbery included a gun as a suspect’s weapon, one robbery included a knife, one robbery included an unspecified “other dangerous weapon” and one robbery was classified as a strong arm robbery that did not involve a weapon.
The February 2018 robbery involved the use of an “other dangerous weapon.”
“Statistically, we do not differentiate between personal and merchant robberies,” Henderson said. “However, all incidents were located at businesses.”
The value of the property or cash taken in these crimes was not provided in the Excel spreadsheets released by the SBPD.
There were no robberies reported in January 2017 and three reported in February 2017. (The Sun will be reporting on robbery in more detail in the near future.)
Assaults
The nine January 2018 assualts included eight simple assaults (listed on the Excel spreadsheet as “non-aggravated”). One of the assaults involved the use of an “other dangerous weapon.” Of the six Feburary 2018 assaults, four were simple assaults. Two involved the use of an “other dangerous weapon.”
During the same period in 2018, there were four assaults in January of last year, two of which were classified as aggravated. There were 10 assaults in February 2018, of which eight were classified as aggravated.
Burglaries
Of the five known January 2018 burglaries, the suspects forcibly entered (broke into) the location in three of the cases. One burglary was classified as an attempted forced entry and one burglary took place without the suspect forcibly entering the location.
Of the four known February 2018 burglaries, the suspects forcibily entered the location in three of the cases.
“All January and February burglaries were at commercial locations,” Henderson said.
There were four burglaries reported in town in January 2017 and nine reported in February 2017.
Vehicle thefts
Keep in mind that vehicle thefts don’t include stolen bicycles, which are documented as a sub-cagtegory of larceny thefts. Three vehicles, two of them cars, were reported stolen in Seal Beach in January of this year. The third was an unspecified sub-category of “other” vehicles that did not include trucks or buses. In February, there were zero vehicle thefts reported.
Last year, there were seven vehilce thefts in January and four in February.
Larceny
Larceny remains one of the most frequently documented crimes in Seal Beach from month to month and year to year. Larceny accounted for 44 of 67 crimes in January 2018 and 29 of 43 crimes in February.
In January 2017, there were 28 larceny crimes. In February 2017, there were 42 larceny crimes.
As reported above, larceny thefts include such crimes as picking pockets, theft from cars, bicycle thefts and shoplifting. The January and February 2018 data did not include a break down of the sub-categories of larceny.
However, the Sun obtained larceny data from 2013 to 2017 and will be looking at larceny in more depth at a future time.
A certain portion of larceny in Seal Beach each years is theft from cars, often unlocked cars.
“Yes, this has been an ongoing issue with thefts from unlocked cars,” said Henderson. “We have done several public information campaigns directly addressing this issue.
Transparency
The SBPD released the 2017 crime statistics in response to an informal request for information made earlier this year. It is not known how much it cost in time or money to produce that information.
The SBPD released the January and February 2018 crime statistics in response to a California Public Records Act request made on the advice of police officials. According to the city’s online public records request portal, it cost Seal Beach three hours and seven minutes of staff time and $212.05 to provide the most recent crime data. However, the same crime data is reported monthly to the FBI and to the California Department of Justice.
