DON THOMPSON, The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Law enforcement officials used a slight increase in California crime this year to argue that they need the $4.2 billion generated by the car tax Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger pledges to roll back.
The California Crime Index leveled off at a 0.9 percent increase, similar to the 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent increases recorded in the first halves of 2000 and 2001, respectively. It was sharply lower than the 7.5 percent increase in the first half of 2002 that triggered fears of a resurgence in crime after a decade of declines.
Every major crime except auto theft decreased or stayed the same the first six months of this year despite economic uncertainty crime experts had expected might produce a significant boost, according to preliminary statistics released Wednesday for the state’s most populous areas.
Yet the presidents of the sheriffs’ and police chiefs’ associations, joined by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, argued that simply repealing the tripling of the vehicle license fee without coming up with replacement money for local governments would devastate crime fighting.
Violent crime was down 3.7 percent the first six months this year over the same period last year, while property crime was up 3.4 percent, according to statistics compiled by Lockyer’s office from 79 county and city jurisdictions serving populations over 100,000. Together, those jurisdictions account for an estimated 65 percent of crimes.
Among major crimes, homicide was down 1.7 percent, forcible rape down 4.1 percent, robbery down 2.2 percent, aggravated assault down 4.5 percent, burglary unchanged, and motor vehicle theft up 6.7 percent.
Lockyer and law enforcement officials credited police tactics and legal changes as well as demographics for the decrease, but said crime could increase should local governments lose money from the car tax.
Many police departments already have cut programs, said California Police Chiefs Association President Rick TerBorch, chief in Arroyo Grande.
Sheriffs departments lost $75 million to the state’s budget crisis last year and some have seen a 20 percent budget cut, said California State Sheriffs’ Association President Bruce Mix, sheriff of Modoc County. He challenged legislators to cut their own budget 20 percent, a $56 million trimming he said would help lawmakers “share the pain.”
“Right now we’re hanging on by our chinny-chin-chin,” added Shasta County Sheriff Jim Pope.
Law enforcement isn’t arguing to keep the unpopular car tax, said Lockyer and Sacramento Sheriff Lou Blanas. But it needs some replacement, they said, which Lockyer said could come from a new tax on gasoline.
Schwarzenegger will announce how he plans to deal with the funding shortfall at the same time he outlines his plan for the car tax rollback, said spokesman H.D. Palmer.
The tax tripled this summer to raise about $4.2 billion toward easing the state’s budget deficit, boosting the average car fee from $76 a year to $234 annually.
Lockyer noted that some areas have seen significant increases, such as the more than 36 percent increase in auto thefts in Pomona, Modesto and Santa Rosa, and the 72 percent increase in murders in Los Angeles County, from 50 last year to 86 through the first half of this year.
Among the California Crime Index for selected cities, Bakersfield was up 34.6 percent; Fresno down 10 percent; Long Beach up 0.3 percent; Los Angeles down 0.7 percent; Modesto up 14.1 percent; Riverside down 7.6 percent; Sacramento up 3.2 percent; San Diego up 13.7 percent; San Francisco up 5.3 percent; and San Jose down 9.7 percent.
Oakland was down 39.8 percent, but the department said much of the decrease was because of a four-month data entry backlog due to staffing and budget constraints.