Police Chief Says SANDAG Crime Report Reflected 'Perfect Storm' of Bad Stats

Police Chief Al Lanning stood before the City Council for 59 minutes Tuesday night, calmly arguing with charts and figures that La Mesa's poor showing in a recent SANDAG crime report was "an anomaly" and "perfect storm" of bad figures in the first quarter of 2010. His force did much better in the third quarter of the year, he said amid council scrutiny and election-year politics.

The San Diego Association of Government's midyear crime report, released last week, showed La Mesa with the highest rate of serious crime in the county. It overshadowed an earlier city "white paper" arguing that La Mesa's crime rate is the lowest in 42 years. The five-page report by City Manager Dave Witt and Lanning wasn't mentioned Tuesday night until 32 minutes into the chief's remarks.

In several debates, challengers in the mayor and City Council races have jumped on the six-month crime report, making a case that the incumbents weren't taking public safety seriously enough.

So Tuesday night's presentation by Lanning, a 34-year veteran of the Police Department, was carefully watched by both sides.

Lanning called the six-month SANDAG report a "snapshot" that didn't "paint a complete picture of crime trends" in La Mesa. He displayed charts on a screen behind council members that included third-quarter figures for "Part 1" crimes—from violent offenses like homicide and rape to property crimes including burglary and theft.

In his latest quarterly operations report, Lanning said that the serious crime rate in La Mesa fell by 34 percent in the latest three-month period, compared with the midyear rate—"a pretty significant downward trend."

He called the first quarter of 2010 "something of an anomaly, a perfect storm" of city crime figures.

Lanning noted a 33 percent decline in vehicle thefts in the months of July, August and September—compared with the same period in 2009. That followed a 16 percent drop in the second quarter after a spike in such crimes (especially Honda thefts) in the first quarter. He credited a regional auto-theft detective.

Vehicle burglaries also have declined in recent months, thanks to fliers distributed in the targeted area (especially older neighborhoods with fewer garages), he said.

And a steep rise in shoplifting by criminal gangs also contributed to a higher crime rate. The first quarter saw more major retailers combating crimes they previously let go and didn't report, he suggested.

Lanning stressed longterm crime trends, saying that between 2006 and 2010, La Mesa has seen a 28.04 percent decline in its serious crime rate—making it among the top-third of municipalities charted by SANDAG.

"We have done as well as anybody [in cities with their own police departments] in crime reduction," Lanning told the council and an audience of 25, including mayor candidate Laura Lothian and council hopefuls Patrick Dean and Kevin Rynearson.

Then Lanning called for questions. Council members obliged—often noting the politicized debate over recent crime statistics.

"It's a political year," said Councilman Dave Allan, not up for re-election. "Do we have crime?  Yes, we do." He went on to praise "what the council has done, with your leadership," in crime-fighting. "I have full confidence in the Police Department."

Mayor Art Madrid cited "a deafening drumbeat [by challengers] that crime in La Mesa is getting out of hand." Later he got Lanning to confirm that someone breaking into a rental storage business with many individual spaces could get credit for dozens of crimes at once, thus skewing crime stats.

Madrid also challenged critics he didn't name, alleging that they argue that La Mesa police are poorly paid, have low standards—and even think "we deserve crime because police don't get [fair] compensation."

He asked Lanning rhetorically whether "cops pay the city back" with poor work because of lower pay.

"Absolutely not," Lanning replied.

Earlier, Lanning said that he has hired about half the members of the 68-officer  force since becoming chief almost six years ago, and that his hires sometimes prefer lower La Mesa salaries because of the force's "professional reputation" and opportunity to work in the community in which they live. He also said some officers like a department where associates aren't constantly changing over time.

"Some people prefer to work with the same group of people," Lanning told the council. "People look at careers differently."

Councilwoman Ruth Sterling noted that the council carries the responsibility for "allocation of resources" and that Lanning has stated the force could be more effective with more officers and resources. She said crime is on La Mesans' minds when the city's crime rate "passes National City."

"We need to do our part as a City Council," Sterling said.

City Manager Witt, honored at the 4 p.m. start of the meeting for being a 25-year city employee, responded: "It's not just a matter of writing a check. It's a balancing [of needs]."

Sterling: "Our first priority is fighting crime." 

Then she alluded to a two-year cycle of budget-making, suggesting the city can't wait to confront recent developments. She noted "three more [business burglaries] yesterday bring us a little higher" in crime.

Councilman Ernie Ewin, who along with Mark Arapostathis is running for re-election, raised the issue of trolley station crime—an effort to answer those who say the trolley is importing crime.

Ewin, a founding member of the San Diego Trolley Board of Directors and long involved with the Metropolitan Transit System that runs the trolley, noted that La Mesa's five stations had six incidents of serious crime in the first half  of 2010, a steep drop from 18 in the first half of 2009.