Briefly in the news

-- Paul Clinton

Crime in Costa Mesa bucked a broader, statewide increase and fell

during the first half of the year, according to statistics released this

week by the state’s Department of Justice.

While the state as a whole saw a 1.3% increase, the city registered a

7.1% drop during the period.

However, incidents of forcible rape did rise from eight in the first

half of 1999 to 13 in the same period this year.

Otherwise, crime fell. There were no homicides, after the city had

four the previous year. And both robberies and aggravated assaults were

down, with the number of robberies dropping from 49 to 33 and the number

of assaults declining slightly from 82 to 79.

Because the crime report looked only at cities with populations of

100,000 or more, Newport Beach was not included.

As of January, state demographic statistics put Costa Mesa’s

population at 106,600 and Newport Beach at 75,600. The estimates were

prepared by the state’s Department of Finance to determine funding

allocations.

Costa Mesa Police Chief Dave Snowden was pleased with the data, which

he said brought the city’s decline to nearly 50% over the past 12 years.

“That’s good news,” Snowden said. “But that doesn’t come as a

surprise.”