Valley Outpaces Rest of L.A. in Crime Growth : Statistics: Police figures show that the area’s violent crimes, thefts and burglaries are up 13%, compared with 6% for the other parts of the city.

Crime grew in the San Fernando Valley in 1991 at a rate more than twice that of the rest of the city for the second year in a row, including an increase in the murder rate nearly eight times as high.

Statistics released Tuesday by the Los Angeles Police Department show that violent crimes, thefts and burglaries rose slightly more than 13% in the Valley during 1991. In the rest of the city, those crimes rose about 6%.

Homicides in the Valley increased 17.8%--nearly eight times the 2.3% increase in the rest of the city. The statistics also show that:

* Rapes in the Valley rose 16% during 1991 but dropped 6.4% in the rest of the city.

* Robberies increased 41.7% in the Valley during 1991, compared with a 5% increase for the rest of the city.

* Auto theft increased 15.3% in the Valley, compared with 4.8% in the rest of the city.

* Aggravated assault rose 8.4% in the Valley and 4.3% in the rest of the city.

* Burglary rose 13.7% in the Valley and 10.6% in the rest of the city.

Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker, the Valley’s top police official, attributed the trend to drugs, gangs and an increasingly diverse population living in close proximity.

An advocate of community-based policing, in which police and civilians collaborate in preventing crime, Kroeker urged residents to join Neighborhood Watch groups, saying the 1,500 police officers assigned to the Valley are spread thin over three shifts and among 1.5 million residents.

“I’m a broken record, but the solution is with the people themselves,” Kroeker said.

“At an austere time for the city, where we’re obviously losing instead of adding police officers while this trend is going on, we can’t depend exclusively on our officers. I mean we don’t have wall-to-wall cops. They’re spread so thin it’s incredible.”

Among the Valley’s five patrol areas, the comparatively affluent Devonshire Division had the highest overall increase in crime--nearly 17% during 1991 contrasted with a drop of nearly 2% the year before.

Devonshire’s increase was the greatest registered by any of the city’s 18 patrol divisions. The North Hollywood Division came in second, with a 15% increase during 1991 compared with a 1% increase the year before.

Capt. Vance Proctor, the Devonshire commander, noted that the division’s patrol area in the northwestern corner of the Valley has continued to grow in population as new housing tracts are developed. Last year, Proctor said, Devonshire’s emergency calls rose 20%, leaving officers with less time to patrol and initiate their own arrests.

On the other hand, crime rose by the smallest percentage in the Valley in the Foothill Division, despite one of the highest concentrations of gangs in the Valley and a tumultuous year marked by the March 3 police beating of Rodney G. King.

Crimes in the Foothill patrol area rose 10% during 1991, compared with a 6.5% increase the year before.

“Considering what a tough year it was, that was a phenomenal performance and I’m very proud of it,” said Capt. Tim McBride, the Foothill commander.

McBride also praised community-based policing, crediting crime prevention seminars and public forums involving police and civilians with helping to contain Foothill’s crime rate last year.

“I think we had a pretty good relationship with the community before, but I really think we’ve made a superhuman effort to communicate with the people we serve” since the public uproar over the King incident, McBride said.

1991 Valley Crime Statistics

Percentage change in robberies from 1990: 41.7%

Source: LAPD