Articles
July 09, 2015
City News Service
A 12.7 percent increase in violent and property crime in Los Angeles during the first half of the year is ``bad news,'' Mayor Eric Garcetti acknowledged this week, but he and police Chief Charlie Beck said a ramped-up domestic violence response team and additional back-up officers should help stem the crime rise. The figures marked the first time in about a decade that overall crime has risen in the city. The leap in crime ``is bad news, but ... my administration doesn't run away from bad news,'' said Garcetti, who joined Beck at a news conference to address the crime statistics.
Violent crime rose 20.6 percent overall in the first six months of the year, compared with the same time last year, according to Los Angeles Police Department figures. In the violent crime category, homicide fell 6.7 percent, but rape was up 7.9 percent, robbery up 16.6 percent and aggravated assaults increased by 26.3 percent. Property crimes rose 10.9 percent, police said. Burglary saw a 15.8 percent jump, while auto theft was up 13.8 percent and larceny up by 8.9 percent.
The increase could be driven by higher rates of domestic violence, as well as a rise in homelessness in the city, Beck and Garcetti said. Garcetti said domestic violence response teams, which had been limited to a few police stations, will be expanded to all 21 police division by the end of summer, with funding and contracts already in place. Meanwhile, a back-up unit stationed out of the Metropolitan Division will be boosted by 200 officers by the end of the year to offer police support across the city, Garcetti said.