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Malibu may be scenic and home to the affluent and influential, but that does not mean the city is crime free. The good news is the city’s crime rate has been declining for more than a decade since it contracted the County of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for services in 1991.
The LASD on Lost Hills Road is the law enforcement agency responsible for patrolling Malibu. Lt. Randall Dickey, an officer at the Lost Hills Station, said traffic is the city’s main concern and that though there is crime in Malibu, it is minimal compared to other areas of Los Angeles.
According to the Lost Hills Station Annual Report, crime was down substantially in 2004. Fatalities were down 2 percent, rape was down 1 percent, vehicle theft was down 12 percent, grand theft of property was down 12 percent and there have been no murders. Dickey attributes an increase in police presence to the decline of crime. All in all, crime is down 14 percent this year, but with that comes a 49 percent increase of drunken driving incidents.
It is not uncommon to have college students drinking, but Dickey said a number of D.U.I.s are a result of Pepperdine parties. Besides the increase in D.U.I. reports, there have been some recent fads.
A current spurt of identity theft also has left many Malibu residents reporting credit cards being stolen from their mailboxes. The credit cards are later activated by the intruders, and a spending spree begins at the expense of the victim.
Minor burglaries are frequently reported, such as people leaving items in an unlocked car or leaving a purse or wallet unattended in a public place. These minor crimes are always overshadowed by the big heist that seems to happen every once in a while.
The atomic bomb of theft exploded in mid-November as the Bank of America branch at Point Dume was robbed for $76,000.
“The burglars were in and out of the bank within minutes,” Dickey said.
This made it difficult for deputies to respond to the call, leaving them still in search of the suspects.
A crime that stays constant in Malibu is vandalism and is usually courtesy of Malibu visitors.
“Other gangs come here and tag up Malibu,” said Detective Timothy Youngerin, head detective at the Lost Hills Station. Though outside gangs come to leave their mark, gangs in Malibu tend to do the same.
Over the past few years there have been numerous reports of altercations between Pepperdine students and the Malibu Locals Only gang, better known as the M.L.O. The Malibu-based group is territorial and has shown hostility to students in the past, but the self-proclaimed gang is not considered dangerous by law enforcement.
“The M.L.O. isn’t even considered a legitimate gang,” Youngerin said. “They don’t carry the same status as other inner-city gangs.”
The Sheriff’s Department does not consider the M.L.O. to be a major threat to residents but are aware of the group’s past aggression toward Pepperdine students.
Deputies are also concerned with providing positive outreach to Malibu youths. The Lost Hills Station has a juvenile unit they call the “J-team.”
Officers on the team visit high schools, middle schools and elementary schools in an effort to get to know the students and provide guidance.
One may be more likely to see Tom Cruise than a loaded gun in Malibu, but that doesn’t mean the Sheriff’s Department isn’t doing its job. The decline of crime over the years is a pattern that deputies said they take pride in.
Submitted 01-27-2005
MALIBU, CA
