CUAUHTEMOC BELTRAN PHOTO
El Centro police Officer Erik Perez prepares to hit the streets Dec. 26.
The numbers are jarring at first glance, but statistics show that violent crime rates in Imperial County are greater than some major national cities.
According to the recent Southern California Association of Governments’ state of the region report, there were 478 violent crimes reported per 100,000-population in this county in 2005.
That number was more than the numbers reported for the cities of New York and Boston and Ventura, Orange and Riverside counties.
“I find it hard to believe we had more violent crimes than New York,” Imperial County Sheriff Harold Carter said.
The numbers gathered in the SCAG report are based on numbers compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ Uniform Crime Report for 2005. The UCR takes statistics directly submitted by law enforcement agencies from throughout the country.
While a city such as New York will have more total violent crimes than Imperial County due to its larger population, the number is based per capita.
“The county’s growing,” Carter said. “We have a lot of drug-related crimes that other areas don’t have; we have considerable issues with drug smuggling that are getting more and more violent. All that, I think, would account for a lot of it.”
The city of Chicago had the highest violent crime rate in 2005 with 818 per 100,000-population. Los Angeles County had 649 per 100,000, accounting for the highest total in the SCAG region, which includes Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
Ventura County was the lowest at 255.
After a 14-percent reduction between 2003 and 2004, Imperial County’s violent crime rate increased 11 percent in 2005. The high since 1990 came in 1995 when Imperial County had more than 900 violent crimes reported.
“The (current) statistics reflect the unfortunate reality of the poor economic situation that this county has historically found itself in,” said Imperial County Deputy District Attorney Deborah Owen. “It’s also unfortunate that these statistics come at a time when we are experiencing record growth and a difficult time recruiting law enforcement personnel.”
As dramatic as the statistics may be, Carter said he hasn’t seen any “big crime trends” or a “crime wave.”
“The people need to understand that we’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got,” Carter said. “I just wouldn’t think the average citizen is in any (more) danger than they were before.”
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