Crime is up in Los Angeles while the city’s police department (LAPD) struggles to recruit new officers, officials said at the July 19 police commissioners’ meeting.
The data presented by LAPD Chief Michel Moore compares numbers from the period between Jan. 1 to July 9 of this year to the same period in the past two years.
There were an additional 998 violent crimes reported compared to 2021—which is a 6.9 percent increase, and a 13.7 percent increase since 2020.
The number of homicide cases is roughly the same as last year but up about 28 percent from 2020.
Property crimes such as burglaries, carjackings, car burglaries, and personal item thefts are all on the rise—up 13.1 percent from 2021, according to the LAPD data.
Citywide shootings have increased 47 percent since 2020, with the number of victims shot by perpetrators up 47 percent as well.
Among gang-related incidents, attacks on police officers are up about 47 percent from 2021, while homicides are down roughly 28 percent. Carjackings are up by 32 percent—with rape and kidnappings up by 100 percent.
Spanning 65 square miles, LAPD’s Central Bureau reported the highest crime increase with a 21 percent jump from this time last year. The station covers the downtown business district, Eagle Rock, the Garment District, MacArthur Park, Dodger Stadium, and Griffith Park while bordering Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, and South Pasadena.
Meanwhile, arrests are down across all categories. For violent crimes, the number is down 5.4 percent from 2021, and down 5.7 percent for property crimes.
Total arrests are down 13 percent from last year, and nearly 33 percent less compared with five years.
Currently short of 426 sworn personnel, LAPD is amping up its recruitment efforts by providing incentives such as housing and sign-on bonus to help offset the high cost of living in the city.
“We are still marketing through targeted efforts … for hiring particularly in areas of African American men and women overall and Asia Pacific American,” Moore said.
Moore added he’s working with the personnel department to establish a “90-day expedited process of vetting qualified applicants.”
“If they [applicants] indicate that they wish to be hired within 90 or fewer days, their testing processes and organizational resources are … to allow that to happen,” Moore said. “It is my hope that every applicant that wants to be a member of this organization would have a desire for that 90-day process.”
Moore said investigators are still looking into the string of crimes that occurred last week across several Southern California counties, where two suspects targeted 7-Eleven stores and killed three people. As a result, five robberies and one homicide were reported in San Fernando Valley, the LAPD’s jurisdiction.
“We believe that these suspects involved either one or both may actually be involved in nine additional convenience store robberies or food stand robberies that date back to late 2021,” Moore said.
The chief added that LAPD continues to work alongside law enforcement in Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange counties in the investigation.
