Authorities at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Division got a belated Christmas present this week when the department released its year-end crime statistics indicating that the division had the largest overall decrease in crime in 2013 of all 21 divisions in the city.

Hollywood Division increased its patrols following the stabbing death of Christine Calderon in June. (photo by Edwin Folven)

Crime in Hollywood was down 11.3 percent for overall Part I crimes, which include all violent crimes and major property crimes such as burglaries, auto thefts, vehicle burglaries and grand thefts, according to Lt. Marc Reina, with the LAPD’s Hollywood Division. The second closest police station was the Harbor Division, where crime was down 11.1 percent. The numbers mirror a citywide decrease in crime, which was down 11.7 percent overall in Los Angeles.

Homicides also greatly decreased citywide — down by 17 percent from the previous year — the fewest in the city since 1966. There were 246 homicides reported citywide in 2013, compared to 295 in 2012. Total property crimes also decreased 4 percent citywide over the previous year.

Reina said the decrease within the Hollywood Division reflects the approach the command staff at the station takes in policing the community. A few high-profile crimes made headlines — such as the stabbing death of visitor Christine Calderon on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last summer, and the stabbing of a victim in front of a pizza parlor on Hollywood Boulevard on Labor Day — but the overall numbers offer a clearer picture, Reina added.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” he said. “It’s a lot of crime prevention, and a lot about the way we deploy ourselves. We have a big parole impact team, which has a big impact with overall crime reduction.”

Only the number of homicides went up in Hollywood, from six in 2012 to seven in 2013. Overall, 710 violent crimes were reported last year, compared to 871 in 2012. Burglaries were also reduced, from 424 in 2012 to 365 in 2013. Overall property crimes dropped 10 percent in Hollywood in 2013, with 3,528 property crimes reported last year compared to 3,913 the previous year.

The LAPD’s Wilshire Division also met the department’s 1 percent goal for crime reduction, but the reductions were less than the Hollywood Division’s statistics. Overall Part I crimes were down .6 percent within the Wilshire Division, ranking it seventeenth out of the 21 divisions in the department, according to Capt. Howard Leslie, the patrol caption for the division.

Leslie added that the population demographics in the Wilshire Division are different than in Hollywood, with more property crimes occurring.

Six homicides occurred within the Wilshire Division in 2013, compared to 9 in 2012. Overall violent crime was down 6 percent, from 547 incidents to 512 in 2013. Burglaries were down 10 percent last year over 2012. Overall property crimes remained nearly even, however, with 3,763 reported in 2013, and 3,750 reported the previous year.

Leslie stressed that a targeted deployment of resources has led to an increase in arrests, including a 33 percent increase in arrests for burglary last year. Leslie said the department has also launched a vigorous campaign to reduce the number of property thefts, and has deployed resources to combat residential and commercial burglaries.

Because many of the property crimes are thefts from vehicles, the department has launched the “Lock It, Hide It, Keep It” campaign, informing people about the dangers of leaving valuables in plain sight inside vehicles. Officers from the division have also gone car-to-car to distribute flyers with the message to motorists who park in the area, and a bike patrol has been deployed around Wilshire Boulevard to further reduce auto burglaries and vehicle thefts.

“We have a large amount of residences, and we’ve had a large number of people moving into the Wilshire area … and a lot of cars. With that, it becomes something attractive to the criminal element,” Leslie said. “We are moving in the right direction.”

Leslie said in 2014, the division will continue to expand its crime prevention efforts and social media presence, which will enable the police department to quickly broadcast crime alerts to a larger segment of the population, and receive information about crime. He added that resources will continue to be deployed to reduce vehicle burglaries and vehicle thefts, as well as other serious crimes.

“We want to get the word out on how to prevent thefts through the senior lead officers, community meetings and outreach,” Leslie added.