'99 crime rate consistent with '98

By Leigh Ann Maze

After seven years of steady decline, overall crime rates in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno leveled off last year, hovering near 1998 levels, according to the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department.

Capt. Larry Todd, citing a statistics report issued Jan. 10, said the department experienced a 20 percent drop in crime from 1997 to 1998, but the numbers stayed relatively constant from 1998 to 1999. Because the numbers are small, any changes in crime documented in the 1999 report are insignificant, Todd explained.

Of the seven crime categories in the report, assault and burglary increased slightly from last year in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno. Assaults increased from 42 to 46 incidents in Los Gatos and from 1 to 2 incidents in Monte Sereno. Burglaries rose from 148 to 170 incidents in Los Gatos and from 4 to 17 incidents in Monte Sereno.

In both cities, theft and auto theft fell slightly. No homicides occurred in Los Gatos in 1998 or 1999, and rapes decreased from 6 in 1998 to 1 in 1999. Robberies in Los Gatos dropped from 14 to 9. In Monte Sereno, no robberies, rapes or homicides were reported in 1998 or 1999.

Overall, a total of 738 offenses were reported in Los Gatos in 1999, up 2 percent from 723 in 1998. In Monte Sereno, a total of 35 offenses were reported in 1999, up 25 percent from 28 in 1998.

At the state level, California's crime rate fell 15.3 percent during the first half of 1999, compared with the same period in 1998, continuing a fall in crime that began in 1991, according to a report issued by the state Attorney General's office. A strong state economy, low unemployment, more community policing programs and stricter sentencing laws were cited by Attorney General Bill Lockyer as key reasons for the steady decline.

San Jose Police Chief Bill Lansdowne, whose agency has seen an 18.9 percent decrease in crime in 1999, compared with the first half of 1998, attributes the decline to an increase in local programs that clean-up neighborhoods, provide mentors in schools and reduce truancy.

The decreased crime rate is also being seen at a nationwide level, falling 10 percent in first six months of 1999 compared with 1998, according to a recently released FBI survey based on crimes reported to police. According to the FBI report, it is the longest trend of declining crime reports since the bureau began collecting national crime data in 1930.

"We're experiencing the same trend being seen statewide and nationally," Todd said.

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