Crime is up in LA across the board

LAPD headquarters. LA Observed file photo.

This year's rise in crime in Los Angeles was not limited to violent crimes, as it was last year. In 2015, LAPD stats show crime rising in all categories and including a 10 percent increase in homicides. It's the first time since the crime rates began dropping across the U.S. more than a decade ago that the year-to-year increases in Los Angeles are across the board: in violent crimes and in property crimes. Also, the crime stats this time are up in all 21 LAPD divisions, stretching across the city's vast geography. Only some of the increase can be attributed to reforms in tracking after the LAPD was caught fudging stats to make the city seem safer.

Crime is a budding huge political issue for City Hall if the neighborhoods get riled up and big civic trends like the downtown resurgence and use of Metro Rail begin to crash, but the message from the LAPD on Wednesday was to minimize the upward shift. "We ask people to keep this in perspective,” Assistant Chief Michel Moore, who oversees the crime-tracking unit, told the LA Times. “The city is not on fire, the city is not falling into the ocean.”

From the LAT story:

Parts of South Los Angeles saw troubling increases in violent crime this year. The area experienced its deadliest August since 2007, with 15 people killed in the last two weeks of the month.

LAPD commanders deployed Metro, a squad with a reputation for hard-charging tactics, to some of those hot spots and also partnered with gang intervention workers. By the fall, the homicide numbers in the area had returned to levels comparable to recent years.

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Police officials said they believe their strategies are showing signs of success. The Metro unit has taken 236 guns off the streets since July, nearly three times as many as in the first half of the year, Moore said. Felony arrests by Metro officers have also tripled, he said.

But end-of-the-year violent crime figures all showed increases: Police reported 280 homicides, up 10.2% from last year, and 1,097 shooting victims, a 12.6% increase.

Rapes were up 8.6% and robberies rose 12.3%, while the biggest change came in the category of aggravated assault, which climbed 27.5%.

Overall, the increase is 19.9 percent for violent crimes such as rape and assault, and 10.3 percent for property crimes such as burglary and car theft. (LA stat: There were 16,008 vehicles reported stolen this year.) From City News Service:

Mayoral spokeswoman Vicki Curry responded to the rising crime rates on Wednesday, saying Garcetti and police Chief Charlie Beck “are taking proactive and comprehensive steps to reduce crime.”

These measures include shifting more officers to the Metro Division, where they can be deployed quickly to areas experiencing the most crime, she said.

More resources were also put into community-oriented policing efforts and an additional $5.5 million was allocated for the city’s gang prevention program.

Curry noted that the city “remains safer than any time since the 1950s, but that’s little comfort to those whose lives have been impacted by crime.”

And you can add one more homicide to the tally, posted today on the LAPD's news blog:

North Hills: Los Angeles Police Department Operations-Valley Bureau homicide detectives are seeking the public's assistance in identifying the suspects responsible for the murder of a 37-year-old man.

On December 30, 2015, around 7:20 p.m., Mission Division uniformed patrol officers responded to a radio call of a "Shooting Just Occurred" at the intersection of Van Nuys Boulevard and Plummer Street. When officers arrived they found a male Hispanic, near a vehicle, suffering from a gunshot wound.

Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded and transported the victim to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The initial investigation revealed that unknown suspects were involved in a possible "road rage" incident with the victim. One of the suspects used a firearm to shoot the victim. The suspects then fled the location

The victim's identity is not being released at this time pending notification to family. He was a resident of Winnetka, California.