State’s Biggest Cities See 7% Decline in Crime Rate : Report: Drop continues trend that began three years ago. In O.C., it fell by 12.7%, although figures for some categories are incomplete. Lungren credits ‘three-strikes’ law and community-oriented policing.

SACRAMENTO — The crime rate in California’s biggest cities fell by an additional 7% during the first six months of 1995 compared to the same period last year, state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren reported Monday.

In a survey of crimes reported by the state’s largest police and sheriff’s departments, robberies plunged by 12.7%, forcible rapes by 10.8% and homicides by 10.6%, Lungren said. Lesser reductions were reported in assaults, down 2.3%; burglaries, off 6.3%, and automobile thefts, down 8.4%.

The figures reflected a continuing downturn in California’s crime rate that started three years ago, although Lungren credited enactment last year of the “three strikes” sentencing law for accelerating the trend. He also cited intensified use of “community-oriented” policing by local police departments.

In the past, some critics have accused Lungren of overplaying the impact of “three strikes” on the falling crime rate. They say the crime rate began falling before California passed the statute, which requires criminals to serve 25 years to life in prison for committing a third felony, while also boosting penalties for second felony offenses.

In a statement, Lungren, a potential Republican candidate for governor in 1998, said there was “just no way to ignore the positive impact” of the law. “California’s drop in crime is outperforming similar downward trends in other parts of the nation,” he said.

The six-month figures were drawn from reports of 63 police and sheriff’s departments in cities and counties of more than 100,000, which account for about 60% of the crimes committed in California.

In Orange County, the overall rate during the period fell by 12.7%, the report said, although figures from some categories were incomplete. Homicide fell only slightly, by 1.6%, while robberies plunged 27.3%.

The largest decreases occurred in Orange, where the crime rate fell 13.9%, and Santa Ana, with a decrease of 13.6%. But as in many other cities, in Orange the news was mixed: While robberies decreased 31%, for example, aggravated assaults increased 14.5%. In Santa Ana, the best news was a 33.4% drop in robberies.

In Los Angeles County, the crime rate fell 9.3%, the report said, including these reductions: homicides, 7.8%; rapes, 18.0%; robberies, 17.1%; assaults, 8.4%.

In addition to the “three strikes” law, Lungren attributed the lower crime rate to the intensified redeployment of police officers from desk duties to neighborhood beats. Some call the practice “community-oriented policing.”

“It should be utilized in every part of the state,” Lungren said. He said closer community contact has helped build citizen confidence in law enforcement, which he termed a “crucial element of public safety that has at times in the past been ignored.”

The report measured the state’s crime rate only in broad strokes for the first six months of the year and did not examine demographic and other details that help make the picture complete. The attorney general is expected to release soon a report on juvenile criminals, who have become increasingly aggressive and vicious.