Commentary: Crime-suppression team is having an effect
Over the last two budget cycles, the City Council has helped us re-create a dedicated Crime Suppression Unit (CSU) to work on specific crimes in Newport Beach.
As I often tell our residents and business owners that Newport Beach is a very safe city, one of the safest around. But it doesn’t mean we can let our guard down. We remain a big target for property crimes.
Two years ago, I asked the City Council for funding for officers to focus on things like thefts from cars, homes, garages, businesses and mailboxes, as well as the removal of packages delivered on doorsteps.
This unit would consist of four officers and one sergeant who would not be assigned to general patrols. Instead, they would proactively identify problem areas and suspects and spend the time needed to find the bad people. This can involve stakeouts, compliance checks and other strategies that don’t lend themselves to typical shift work.
The creation of this unit was inspired by Assembly Bill 109, California’s so-called prisoner realignment plan, which has shifted some state prisoners to county jails and resulted in the early release of thousands of recidivists.
In some cases, we arrest people in Newport Beach for certain crimes, like selling drugs or stealing cars, only to see them back on the streets within hours. The most problematic part of AB 109 has been what we perceive to be a spike in the number of property crimes committed by people on Post-Release Community Supervision — similar to probation — under realignment.
The results of our CSU’s work so far have been pretty remarkable.
In July, the unit made 21 arrests, for felony crimes and drug-related charges. All but two of the individuals arrested were habitual offenders on probation, parole or PRCS. In one recent week in August, the unit made seven arrests — five felonies and two misdemeanors.
One involved a guy on a bike who had a backpack containing bolt cutters, slim jim, glass breaks and other tools. He had numerous prior offenses for burglary and other thefts.
Just the other day, the team made six arrests associated with drug dealing at a home on the east side of town.
Some of these crimes may seem minor, but not to the victims or the neighbors.
As a result of the CSU and the rest of our team at the Police Department, we are running at a “Part 1” crime level that is 13% lower today than at the same time last year. Part 1 crimes are assaults, murders, rapes, robberies, burglaries, grand and petty thefts, thefts from motor vehicles and vehicle thefts.
We have achieved this despite the AB 109 releases and last year’s record low Part 1 crime levels. Imagine how well we’d be doing without AB 109.
I appreciate the council’s and community’s support of our CSU team and our Police Department. We know we are a large part of the city’s budget.
And a special thanks to the residents.
When we asked them last year to be better about locking house and car doors and closing garages, they did. We still make it too easy for people to steal from us in Newport Beach, but we’re doing better. Let’s keep up the good work.
JAY JOHNSON is chief of the Newport Beach Police Department.