Crime & Safety

Homicides Down in Los Angeles and West LA Patrol Area in 2013

The city is on pace to record the fewest number of homicides since 1966, a time when L.A. had about a million less people.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck announced at a press conference recently that homicides and overall crime are down significantly in Los Angeles in 2013. 

Through Nov. 7, the city has recorded 13 percent fewer homicides than at the same point in 2012, for a total of 222, which is 33 less than in 2012, according to the Los Angeles Times

Homicides have also fallen in the West LA Division's patrol area, which has seen a 67 percent percent drop. Through Nov. 2, the division had recorded one homicide, down from 3 in 2012. The West L.A. Division patrols Brentwood, Westwood, Century City, Pacific Palisades and other westside neighborhoods. 

Overall violent crime has fallen 5 percent in L.A. in 2013, and overall property crimes are down 3 percent. In the West LA patrol area, violent crime has remained flat, and property crime has fallen 8 percent. 

If the current pace of homicides holds through the year, it will be the lowest total number the city has experienced since 1966, a time when L.A. had about a million less people, the Times reported.

"When I was a young police officer working in South L.A., every year crime would increase," Beck said, according to the Times. "I started out in the late '70s... It was just given that it would increase."

In 1990s, murders skyrocketed and hit a high of 1,092 in 1992, compared to 298 last year.

"If you'd asked me in 1990—any time in the 1990s—what it would be like in 2013, I would have thought 'Blade Runner,'" Beck said, referring to director Ridley Scott's violent depiction of a futuristic L.A., according to the Times. "To see it reverse; really is going back in time... it is amazing."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Brentwood