Serious Crime in Hawthorne Decreases 14%

Hawthorne police said this week that they were happily surprised to find that serious crimes in the city between January and March declined by 14% over the same period last year, despite voters’ rejection of a property tax that would have paid for more officers.

Homicides during the first quarter of the year fell from three in 1990 to two this year, and reported rapes dropped from 14 to 12. The largest decrease was in larcenies, from 766 to 580.

Robbery and assault were the only serious crimes that showed an increase, police said. Robberies rose from 187 in the first three months of 1990 to 193 this year, and assaults from 197 to 211.

Police officials had predicted an increase in serious crimes after voters last year rejected the property tax measure. They established longer shifts for officers and cut back on overtime.

Although this year’s decline in serious crimes was the largest the city has experienced in five years, police cautioned against reading too much into the first-quarter figures.

“These things are kind of cyclic,” said Capt. Richard Prentice. “Right now we’re doing good, but I hate to take a lot of credit for it and in the next six months . . . find it comes back with a vengeance.”