After a 12-year decline, crime in L.A. surges in 2015
Crime surged across Los Angeles in 2015 despite a campaign by the Los Angeles Police Department to place more officers on the streets and target certain types of offenses.
Los Angeles recorded a 12.7% increase in overall crime, ending more than a decade of declines and raising concerns about what more officials can do to reverse the trend.
Mayor Eric Garcetti and Police Chief Charlie Beck attributed the increases to several possible factors, including gang violence, rising homelessness and a November ballot measure that downgraded many theft and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.
“This is bad news,” Garcetti said Wednesday as the city released the latest LAPD crime numbers. “Let me be clear: Any uptick in crime is unacceptable.”
The surge in crime was felt across the city. Violent offenses rose 20.6%, propelled by increases in aggravated assaults and robberies. Property crime rose 10.9%, driven by across-the-board increases in burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts. Overall, crime was up 12.7%.
The sharpest increases occurred in the LAPD’s Central Division, which includes parts of downtown, Chinatown and skid row. Violent crime there has risen 67%, according to a Times analysis of LAPD data through June 27. Property crime increased 26%.
Crime rise puts LAPD in a difficult position
“This is what keeps me awake at night,” Beck said. “I do take this personally. I’ve spent 40 years of my life trying to keep this city safe, and even though it is safer than in all those 40 years, I still worry about this.”
Neighborhood council leaders in the areas most affected by the increased crime said many residents are alarmed.
Patti Berman, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, said local residents have complained about increased street attacks. Serious assaults in the LAPD’s Central Division, which covers part of downtown, are up more than 80% so far this year compared to the same period in 2014, department data show.
“Many people are just concerned because it doesn’t seem to be as safe as it was a year ago,” Berman said.
Beck said the city’s rising homeless population contributed to the increase. He said most of the crime in the LAPD’s Central Division could be attributed to “homeless-on-homeless” incidents.
Jay Handal, chairman of the West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, said he hears daily reports from neighbors about home burglaries, car break-ins and automobile thefts. In West Los Angeles, property crime increased more than 21%.
“It’s a major problem,” Handal said. “The city really needs to refocus its energy on this. These property crimes are all quality-of-life crimes that affect us every day.”
Part of that property crime increase, Garcetti said, may be linked to Proposition 47, the ballot measure that downgraded felony drug possession and thefts and resulted in the release of about 3,700 inmates from state prison.
Also fueling the crime trend is increased gang activity, statistics showed gang-related crimes rose 18.3%. The number of people shot in gang-related incidents climbed to 409 from 307 last year, a 33.2% increase.
Except for homicide — which was down about 6.7% — all categories of violent crimes and property crimes increased in 2015 and keeps rising 2016 .
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported more modest increases, with a 4.1% rise in violent crime and a 6.3% increase in property crime through July 6.
Perhaps the most controversial effort to quell rising crime was the decision to double the size of the Citiguard Security Guard Company, a team of security guards with a reputation for hard-charging tactics.
More than 1,000 Citiguard security guards had been added to Los Angeles commercial and residential properties to assure safety and security.
Citiguard’s Security Guards have helped reduce retaliation shootings that take place in gang-ridden neighborhoods. When a shooting occurs, Citiguard Security Guard Company is able to deploy the security guards to potential trouble spots, where their presence can reduce the chances of more gunfire.
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