HISTORY Bell has a rich history of Native Americans dating back thousands of years. In 500 B.C. the Gabrieliño Indians migrated to what is now known as the city of Bell. Spaniards occupied the area in the mid 1700s. The city is named after the founder James George Bell and his family who were the pioneer American settlers that migrated with other settlers between 1870 and 1890. Their Victorian style farm home, “The Bell House” is now a historic …show more content…
The number of registered sex offenders compared to the number of residents in the city is smaller than the state average. Below is a chart of the crime rate by year.
Type 2001 ‘02 ‘03 ‘04 ‘05 ‘06 ‘07 ‘08 ‘09 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘13
Murders 1 2 2 2 5 3 3 3 1 1 0 1 0
Rapes 11 12 9 18 7 10 14 13 8 12 14 9 10
Robberies 94 83 59 52 65 64 82 71 89 90 101 95 81
Assaults 112 148 143 83 89 85 76 98 88 138 176 120 …show more content…
Crime rate was high in 2011.
POLICE DEPARTMENT The city of Bell has its own police department, The Bell Police Department. The department is a full service police agency providing 24/7 law enforcement for the tiny city of Bell. The department was established in 1927 with Police Chief Lee Boren and four other patrol officers. It consists of the support division such as dispatch, investigations and records and the Operations division such as patrolling. Patrol is part of the Department's Field Services Division using marked police vehicles. Former Police Chief Randy Adams resigned under pressure and was replaced. Anthony Miranda is now the Chief of Police. Steve Finkelstein is the captain and Ty Henshaw is the Lieutenant. There were 36 full time law enforcement employees, 25 of them being officers in 2013. There are currently 47 members in the department, with 40 of them being officers. The department serves a population of 35,068. The city of Bell is currently negotiating with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to take over the policing contract.
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH