Publication: Yorba Linda Star; Date:2006 June 15; Section:Viewpoints; Page Number: 14

Yorba Linda crime is rising. Does anyone care?

BOB HANSOHN GUEST COLUMN

Apparently, Yorba Linda City Manager Tamara Letourneau and Mayor Mike Duvall do not. Recently, I submitted a request to Ms. Letourneau asking that Yorba Linda residents receive public safety updates at each council session.

We contract with the Brea Police Department for police service and our liaison officer with that department attends our council meetings. It would seem reasonable that twice a month he provide information concerning year-to-date (YTD) crime statistics, significant arrests, emerging crime patterns, traffic issues and community policing efforts. Maybe we could even be introduced to the officers assigned to our city. Perhaps Yorba Lindans attending the meeting, or watching it at home could actually help the police department address crime issues.

From a professional policing perspective, it is very important to quickly identify trends and patterns, then effectively respond to them with the necessary resources before they become bigger concerns. Information provided by the Brea Police Department in each issue of “The Star” lacks analysis and is not helpful for this purpose.

Good idea? Well, not according to our city manager or mayor. Ms. Letourneau told me that the mayor establishes the agenda for each council meeting and that he was satisfied with the current annual reporting provided by the Brea Police Department. She reminded me that crime in Yorba Linda declined 3 percent in 2005 when compared to 2004. Compared to other jurisdictions that, in my opinion, is not a particularly noteworthy achievement. Ms. Letourneau suggested that I contact Brea Police Captain Bob Bugbee if I wanted more information.

At this point, there seemed to be an intellectual disconnect. Shouldn’t public safety be a “front burner” issue for our city manager and elected officials? Three of our five Council members are either former or current law enforcement officials. How can anyone effectively oversee a policing contract if they do not know how well, or how poorly the Brea Police Department is doing in fulfilling its contract obligations?

In May, I contacted Captain Bugbee for more information and found him to be accommodating and friendly. But as we talked, my concerns about how we were being policed by the Brea Police Department grew. Particularly disappointing was the fact that he was not intimately familiar with current YTD crime issues. He was able to provide Part I crime statistics through February 2006 compared to the same period for 2005. This crime reporting category (murder, aggravated assault, rape, robbery, misdemeanor assault, burglary, theft and grand theft auto) increased in our community from 153 occurrences in 2005 to 196 occurrences for the same period in 2006; i.e., a 28 percent increase.

March and April statistics, and crime information YTD through the current month were not available.

If Captain Bugbee, our city manager and our council do not have a grasp of current crime statistics, how can the Brea Police Department be held accountable, or effectively deploy the necessary resources to address these problems? This oversight requires more than an annual review. And shouldn’t the community be alerted to emerging crime problems in a more timely fashion?

For the last several months, our mayor and city council have been embattled concerning a variety of issues. Some have characterized the council’s behavior as being dismissive towards residents who have been critical of them. Emotions have run high at some council meetings and it is evident that there are several people in Yorba Linda who are dissatisfied with the leadership, fiscal responsibility and vision provided by our city manager and elected officials.

Several important issues have been addressed, but discussions regarding public safety and the millions of dollars we pay the Brea Police Department to police our community have been nonexistent. Are we truly getting our money’s worth?

A 28 percent increase in Part I crime requires a detailed explanation. Remember, crime generally rises during the summer months. That fact, coupled with what appears to be an already significant crime increase may be cause for alarm.

What concerns me more is that none of our city leaders seem to know about this increase – or care. One conclusion is worse than the other, neither is acceptable.

Bob Hansohn is a Yorba Linda resident with 36 years of experience in law enforcement.