LOS ANGELES -- More police officers and public safety awareness
efforts are some of the reasons the Los Angeles Airport Police said
crime dropped 12% last year at Los Angeles Airport, the second
consecutive year of declining crime rates.
The airport added 20 police officers and 54 traffic officers in
the last year, and more law enforcers are expected to be hired this
year, police said.
The number of crimes to people and property dropped to 2,791
incidents during 1998 from 3,182 in 1997, according to police.
Nearly 77% of the crimes were preventable because people were not
watching their belongings or failed to paying attention to their
surroundings, police said. People also left valuables such as
cellular phones in plain view in their parked vehicles, police
said.
Airport police crime-reduction efforts focus on four areas:
uniformed and plain-clothes officers on patrol, crime trend
analysis, a system of surveillance cameras and a public
safety-awareness campaign.
The safety-awareness program features an illustrated luggage
cart character surrounded by the tag line, "Watch Your Bags." Signs
are posted throughout the airport as well as on LAX shuttle buses.
Free luggage tags, bookmarks and brochures containing travel safety
tips are available from airlines, travel agencies, convention and
travel bureaus, hotels, car rental companies and the airport's
retail stores.
Property crimes constituted 85% of all crimes reported,
according to police. Airport police posted a 12% decline in
property crimes, to 2,384 in 1998 from 2,698 in 1997. Of 9.3
million vehicles parked at LAX last year, there were 49 vehicle
thefts. This is down 41% from the 84 reported in 1997.
Even with these significant declines, almost 90% of all property
thefts continue to be what airport police classifies as
"opportunity thefts," or "preventable crimes," police said.
Crimes against persons were down 6%, from 155 in 1997 to 145 in
1998. Police said the airport had no homicides or rapes in 1998,
but there were 14 robberies, dropping 39% from 23 the previous
year. The statistics cover the 3,600 acres of LAX property,
including passenger terminals, parking lots, ramps, cargo areas,
and offices.
A free "Watch Your Bags" kit is available by contacting Los
Angeles World Airports Public Affairs Bureau at (310) 646-5260.