Homicide by the numbers

Interesting graphic on page B2 in today's Times (and on the website in PDF format.) The paper's data analysis unit headed by Doug Smith mapped the location of every murder in the city in 2004 and compared the array of red dots to 1992, the deadliest year on record. The most visible immediate difference is the number of red dots marking the locale of each homicide—515 last year compared to 1,096 in 1992. The number dropped steadily citywide until 1999, and since has drifted back up. Los Angeles ranked 47th nationally last year (better than Inglewood or Pomona) but most chilling is a blow-up map of the area around Slauson and Vermont avenues showing how many blocks suffered more than one homicide. On the good side, the graphics clearly show the beneficial effect of tighter law enforcement around MacArthur Park, the former drug-sales haven at Wilshire and Alvarado.