Thread: Murders and other violence drop in L.A.

Murders and other violence drop in L.A.

HOMICIDES WAY DOWN

Percent change of selected crimes in Los Angeles in January-March 2009 compared with the same period in 2008:

Robbery: 1.6%

Burglary: -3.7%

Rape: -8.8%

Aggravated assault: -10.4%

Auto theft: -18%

Homicide: -30.7%

Source: LAPD

By William M. Welch, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES — This city known for its gangs and violence has been catching a break lately: murders, property crimes and other violence are down significantly despite the recession.
The number of murders in Los Angeles fell by nearly a third in the first three months of this year compared with the same period in 2008, according to police department statistics. The 70 people killed in the first quarter of 2009 compare with 101 homicides in the first quarter of last year.

Total violent crimes were down nearly 5%, the LAPD figures show. Overall property crimes were down, too.

Police Chief William Bratton says some expected crime to go up during hard economic times, and Southern California has been in a recession longer than most of the rest of the country.

"We're not experiencing any increase in crime having to do with the economy, nor do I expect we will," he said.

The declines accelerate a more than six-year downward trend in Los Angeles, according to the city's crime statistics. Bratton credits the decrease to his management staff and police officers.

"It's due to us, the police," Bratton said in an interview with USA TODAY. "Very specifically, how we police."

Under Bratton, the former New York City police chief, the LAPD keeps up-to-the-minute statistics on every crime or shooting reported. The force redeploys officers to crime hot spots daily and weekly based on the data.

The department has been helping provide re-entry assistance for gang members out of prison.

Connie Rice, a civil rights lawyer who advises Bratton, credits "much smarter policing" for the drop. She said a variety of other factors may be at work, including court injunctions and enforcement actions that have driven gang leaders out of the city.

"We've exported it all over the country," she said of gang violence.

New York uses a similar crime management system, begun when Bratton was chief there. It, too, has seen a decline in violent crime. From Jan. 1 through March 29, New York Police Department figures show a 23% decline in murders: 89 this year compared with 116 in the same period last year. There was a similar decrease in rape.

Bratton says more cops have helped. Los Angeles increased the number of officers to 9,855, up from fewer than 9,000 in 2001.

Al Blumstein, director of the National Consortium on Violence Research at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, says the declines come as crime rates have remained generally flat nationwide.

"Big cities are pretty savvy and sophisticated, so if something pops up somewhere they have the know-how to respond and the resources to do so," he said. "Smaller cities are pretty much strapped."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... rime_N.htm

This drop in crime must be because all of the illegal aliens are moving out

and now all of their crimes are committed in other cities and other states.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

This drop in crime must be because all of the illegal aliens are moving out

and now all of their crimes are committed in other cities and other states.

Yep, they are coming to Texas and farting in motel rooms.

One has to question the validity of these figures they are probably making it up to cover up the horrible job they have always done to stop crime in the past!