as a whole. Property crimes did not increase or decrease from 1999 to 2000. In the West (including California), the crime index increased by 1.1 percent, indicating that Westerners saw greater crime than other Americans. Those in the Northeast (including New York) saw an overall decrease in violent crime of 2.4 percent and a decline of 1.1 percent was seen in the Midwest. However, while the crime index increased in the West, murder fell by 3.9 percent while it increased by 1.3 percent in the Northeast. Thus, while more violent crime was being committed in the West from 1999 to 2000, fewer murders were being committed there compared to the Northeast (Crime Index Trends, 2001, p. 1).
Although there are many types of pollution, California, and particularly Southern California, is associated with air pollution. Indeed, the term "smog" was invented to describe the combination of smoke and fog that often blankets the Los Angeles basin. Unfortunately for its residents, Southern California continues to have poor air quality, despite strides that it has made in recent years. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a list of those states and counties that are not in compliance with regard to regulations regarding safe air pollutant levels, and both California as a whole and Southern California in particular continue to struggle with pollution.
Los Angeles County is in violation of safe levels with regard to carbon monoxide (which is at serious levels), ozone (at extreme levels) and PM-10 (also at serious levels). Adjacent Orange County is in violation with carbon monoxide (at serious levels), ozone (at extreme levels) and PM-10 (also at serious levels). In San Bernardino County, located to the east of Los Angeles County, ozone levels are in the severe range while PM-10 levels are in the moderate (but still unhealthful) range. Ventura County (which is still considered part of Southern California but which is locat...