Known serious crime in Los Alamitos increased 17 percent in 2012, according to figures provided by the Los Alamitos Police Department.
Violent crimes also increased in Los Alamitos last year.
Seal Beach saw serious, or Part 1, crimes decrease by 6 percent last year.
However, Los Alamitos Police discovered or received fewer serious crime reports overall last year than Seal Beach Police documented in the same period.
There were 402 Part 1 crimes documented in Los Alamitos in 2012, according to the Los Alamitos Police Department, a 17 percent increase from the 345 reported in 2011.
Seal Beach Police documented 593 serious crimes in 2012, 6 percent fewer than the 630 reported in 2011.
The population of Seal Beach is roughly double that of Los Alamitos.
Part 1 crimes in Los Alamitos broke down into eight categories—homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft. Seal Beach Police crime statistics put aggravated and simple assault under the single category “assault.”
Part 1 crime figures do not include drug offenses.
Remember: Crime statistics only reflect those crimes reported to or discovered by the police that the police consider valid. Percentages without specific figures can give a distorted impression of the data.
Los Al sees more violent crime
Most violent crimes increased in Los Alamitos last year. The exception was simple assault, which dramatically decreased by more than half. There was no change in the Los Alamitos homicide figures—there were no homicides at all.
Like Seal Beach, Los Alamitos experienced zero homicides in 2012. There were also zero homicides in Los Alamitos in 2011, making a zero percent change for that Los Alamitos. Seal Beach, on the other hand, saw a 100 percent decrease from eight homicides in 2011 to zero in 2012. (The eight 2011 homicides stemmed from a single incident and created a 700 percent increase in homicide figures from 2010.)
Rape increased 200 percent, with two rapes reported in Los Al in 2012. There were no known rapes in Los Alamitos in 2011. (However, rape is historically an under-reported crime. According to the Justice Department “National Crime Victimization Survey: 2006-2010,” 54 percent of rapes that occurred during a five-year period went unreported.)
Robbery increased—the 12 robberies reported last year represented a 140 percent increase from the 5 documented Los Alamitos robberies in 2011.
Aggravated assault increased from six in 2011 to 17 in 2012, an increase of 183 percent.
Property crime: some up, some down
Los Alamitos Property crime was also generally higher last year, but there was some good news in the property crime figures.
Burglary figures remained unchanged from 2011 to 2012—with 80 burglaries known to Los Alamitos Police in each of those years.
Automobile theft dropped 14 percent.
The larceny category of crime statistics includes nine sub-categories: pickpocket incidents, purse snatchings, shoplifting, theft from automobiles, auto part and accessory theft, bicycles, thefts from buildings, thefts from coin machines and “other” forms of theft.
There was no change to the number of pocket picking incidents—pick pockets struck twice in Los Al in 2012 and twice in 2011. At least, as far as anyone knows.
Purse snatching decreased 100 percent.
Shoplifting decreased 63 percent from 16 reported thefts in 2011 to 6 in 2012. (Seal Beach saw a 55 percent increase in shoplifting reports in 2012.)
There was a 63 percent increase in car part thefts—16 such crimes reported in 2011; 26 were reported in 2012.
Bicycle thefts decreased 59 percent.
Thefts from buildings, unfortunately, increased 114 percent, from seven in 2011 to 15 in 2012.
Thefts from coin machines increased from two in 2011 to four in 2012, a 100 percent increase.
The “other” larceny category saw an 8 percent increase.
Known serious crime in Los Alamitos increased 17 percent in 2012, according to figures provided by the Los Alamitos Police Department.
Violent crimes also increased in Los Alamitos last year.
Seal Beach saw serious, or Part 1, crimes decrease by 6 percent last year.
However, Los Alamitos Police discovered or received fewer serious crime reports overall last year than Seal Beach Police documented in the same period.
There were 402 Part 1 crimes documented in Los Alamitos in 2012, according to the Los Alamitos Police Department, a 17 percent increase from the 345 reported in 2011.
Seal Beach Police documented 593 serious crimes in 2012, 6 percent fewer than the 630 reported in 2011.
The population of Seal Beach is roughly double that of Los Alamitos.
Part 1 crimes in Los Alamitos broke down into eight categories—homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft. Seal Beach Police crime statistics put aggravated and simple assault under the single category “assault.”
Part 1 crime figures do not include drug offenses.
Remember: Crime statistics only reflect those crimes reported to or discovered by the police that the police consider valid. Percentages without specific figures can give a distorted impression of the data.
Los Al sees more violent crime
Most violent crimes increased in Los Alamitos last year. The exception was simple assault, which dramatically decreased by more than half. There was no change in the Los Alamitos homicide figures—there were no homicides at all.
Like Seal Beach, Los Alamitos experienced zero homicides in 2012. There were also zero homicides in Los Alamitos in 2011, making a zero percent change for that Los Alamitos. Seal Beach, on the other hand, saw a 100 percent decrease from eight homicides in 2011 to zero in 2012. (The eight 2011 homicides stemmed from a single incident and created a 700 percent increase in homicide figures from 2010.)
Rape increased 200 percent, with two rapes reported in Los Al in 2012. There were no known rapes in Los Alamitos in 2011. (However, rape is historically an under-reported crime. According to the Justice Department “National Crime Victimization Survey: 2006-2010,” 54 percent of rapes that occurred during a five-year period went unreported.)
Robbery increased—the 12 robberies reported last year represented a 140 percent increase from the 5 documented Los Alamitos robberies in 2011.
Aggravated assault increased from six in 2011 to 17 in 2012, an increase of 183 percent.
Property crime: some up, some down
Los Alamitos Property crime was also generally higher last year, but there was some good news in the property crime figures.
Burglary figures remained unchanged from 2011 to 2012—with 80 burglaries known to Los Alamitos Police in each of those years.
Automobile theft dropped 14 percent.
The larceny category of crime statistics includes nine sub-categories: pickpocket incidents, purse snatchings, shoplifting, theft from automobiles, auto part and accessory theft, bicycles, thefts from buildings, thefts from coin machines and “other” forms of theft.
There was no change to the number of pocket picking incidents—pick pockets struck twice in Los Al in 2012 and twice in 2011. At least, as far as anyone knows.
Purse snatching decreased 100 percent.
Shoplifting decreased 63 percent from 16 reported thefts in 2011 to 6 in 2012. (Seal Beach saw a 55 percent increase in shoplifting reports in 2012.)
There was a 63 percent increase in car part thefts—16 such crimes reported in 2011; 26 were reported in 2012.
Bicycle thefts decreased 59 percent.
Thefts from buildings, unfortunately, increased 114 percent, from seven in 2011 to 15 in 2012.
Thefts from coin machines increased from two in 2011 to four in 2012, a 100 percent increase.
The “other” larceny category saw an 8 percent increase.
