Crime in Lake Forest - Part 3

Last time we took a look at crime in Lake Forest. Here is what we found –

• Despite dramatic increases in population and calls for service, Part 1 crimes in Lake Forest are near an all-time low, and remain relatively stable at this low level for the past 4 years.
• Not only are we doing much better on an absolute basis, on a relative basis we have improved. While Lake Forest once had one of the highest crime rates in South OC, now we consistently are among the lowest in crime rate.

This is great news. So I sat down with the Police Chief and we tried to figure out what’s happening. Understanding why we are doing so much better will help us continue to do better.

Here are some of the factors which may help account for the low crime rate and why we are doing better on a comparative basis.

CRIME ANALYSIS

OCSD is getting better at providing crime analysis data and our Chief is using this data to deploy our deputies in a strategic manner, hoping to anticipate crime or at least respond more quickly. The mere presence of Police may help deter crime.

CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAMS

Our “Don’t Make it Easy” program was a great success and continues. We also expanded our Child Safety classes. Educating people is probably one of the best defenses against crime.

HOMELESS LIAISON

Lake Forest pioneered the use of the Homeless Liaison Officer and this year we doubled up during the early part of the year and then again this Summer. We are also making use of more bike patrols. There is some crime associated with homelessness, so keeping a lid on this problem helps keep the crime rate down.

IMPROVING WITH AGE

Lake Forest has several senior investigators and as they get more experience they perform even better. In the recent past we had some major arrests which had a big impact on our crime rate.

PAROLEE COMPLIANCE TEAM

Like every other city, Lake Forest has people on parole. Our City has been very active on the Compliance Team making sure that people on parole do not re-offend.

PUBLIC AWARENESS

In the recent past we’ve done a lot more to make people aware of the crime in the City. The city website now has crime rate information and crime mapping. FB has a Neighborhood Watch page used by over 5,000 people (along with a few phony NW pages), and Next Door is being used on a regular basis by nearly 6,000 people.

None of these factors by themselves accounts for why our crime rate is at new all-time lows, and the Chief believes that it’s a combination of factors rather than any one factor.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a town hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be Oct 18 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).