Greetings from the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department. The
following is the monthly update for February 2007. We hope you find the
information useful. You are encouraged to continue to visit our website at
www.lapdonline.org.
LAPD IS HIRING
The Los Angeles Police Department is currently seeking the best and
brightest men and women to join our ranks. The starting base salary for
high school graduates is $52,638. With at least 60 college units, and an
overall GPA of 2.0 or better, the starting salary is $54,747. Applicants
with a four-year BA or BS degree can start at $56,898. Information sessions
are scheduled throughout the month of February in various Southern
California locations. If you are interested, or if you know someone who
might be, please visit our recruitment website at www.joinlapd.com.
CHIEF’S MESSAGE
For far too many years, the City of Los Angeles has been gripped by the
scourge of gang violence. While over the past several years we have focused
on driving down all Part 1 crime Citywide, 2007 will be the year that we
refocus our efforts to begin the process of permanently impacting this
problem of domestic and community terrorism. Although each of the 19
geographic Areas has its own unique gang issue, our first target will be in
the Harbor Gateway area. In December 2006, 14-year-old Cheryl Green was
shot by members of the 204th Street gang.
At a news conference on January 18, the Mayor and I were joined by
Councilmember Janice Hahn, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Sheriff Lee Baca,
and representatives from the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, the parole and probation
departments, and other law enforcement organizations, to announce our
intentions on dismantling the 204th Street gang.
The behavior of this relatively small gang, with less than 120 members, has
made it stand out among other gangs in the City. Make no mistake: our goal
is to get rid of this gang.
Because of geographic boarders and jurisdictions, and through the sharing of
data and strategies, the Department will be collaborating with other
agencies, including other local law enforcement organizations and the
Federal government. This united front to suppress this type of activity
will open the door for more long-term strategies such as prevention and
intervention. We will also be using some of the proven strategies of the
past, like gang injunctions, stay-away orders, and strategic deployment of
our officers. As I have said before, we will never arrest our way out of
the gang problem, but the solution must start with suppression. We must
first make the area safe so that the intervention and prevention strategies
will work.
We will also direct our attention to the San Fernando Valley. We recently
announced a new program to assign a probation officer to each of the six
Valley stations to help us quickly identify and arrest suspects who violate
the terms of their probation. This $500,000 program, teaming up with LA
County resources, begins February 5 and focuses on the area where crime has
risen the highest in the City. Gangs are to blame for a large percentage of
the homicides in the Valley in 2006.
Although the Harbor Gateway area and the San Fernando Valley are where we
are focusing our attention and resources now, later in February we will be
announcing strategies to attack the gang problem on a Citywide comprehensive
and coordinated basis.
In referring to our year-end crime numbers, when the preliminary figures for
2006 were totaled, I was able to tell another good story of the results of
the hard work of the men and women of the LAPD. Last month I stated crime
had been reduced by nearly 8 percent. This month I want to break down the
numbers so all can see how the hard work is paying off.
Crime in the city of Los Angeles dropped for the fifth year in a row in
2006. The per capita crime rate for Part I crime remained below the 1956
level for the second year in a row. Preliminary totals show that nearly
11,000 fewer persons were victimized by major crime last year.
While violent crime was up 3.7% mid-year across the nation, it declined in
Los Angeles by 2.5% by the end of the year. Property crime in L.A. dropped
9%, exceeding the national decline of 2.6%.
All but one of the eight categories of Part I crime showed decreases for the
last five years. In 2006, homicides dropped 1.8%, the lowest since 1999;
rape decreased 7.2%; aggravated assaults 9.1%; burglary dipped 8.2%; car
burglary dropped 8.8%; and personal and other theft decreased 9.3%. Robbery
was the only major crime category in the City to increase in 2006 after
being down for the last four years.
The jump in robbery paralleled the nation’s, but at a lower rate. At
mid-year, the national robbery rate was up 8.4% in the major metropolitan
counties. At one point during the year, robberies rose over 10% across the
City, but the year ended with the robbery rate up 5.5%. The largest
increases occurred in the San Fernando Valley despite a nearly 24% increase
in arrests, including the capture of several serial robbers.
A ranking of geographic Areas by their Part 1 crime reduction is provided in
the following chart.
PART I CRIME REDUCTION BY AREA
AREA 2006 2005
Pacific -19% -04%
Central -18% -13%
Northeast -15% -04%
West Los Angeles -12% -12%
Wilshire -12% -11%
Southeast -10% -14%
Hollywood -08% -13%
North Hollywood -08% -12%
77th -07% -12%
Hollenbeck -07% -13%
Rampart -06% -17%
Southwest -04% -22%
Devonshire -03% -14%
West Valley -03% -15%
Van Nuys -02% -10%
Newton -01% -15%
Harbor -01% -10%
Mission -01% -21%
Foothill +05% -25%
So, while there is a good story to tell, continued annual crime reductions
remain our priority. And we will do that by placing more focus on the
disproportionately large amount of gang-related crimes. In 2007, we will
concentrate our efforts on creative and innovative ways to deal with the
continuing and pervasive problem of gang violence as part of our overall
crime and fear reduction efforts.
CRIME STATISTICS - CITY-WIDE
Year to Date as of January 27, 2007
Homicide Down -36.4%
Rape Down -27.9%
Robbery Up -6.8%
Aggravated Assault Down -10.4%
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TOTAL VIOLENT CRIMES Down -9.5%
Burglary Down -9.5%
Burglary/Theft from Vehicle Down -2.9%
Personal/Other Theft Down -16.8%
Auto Theft Down -2.9%
---------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL PROPERTY CRIMES Down -7.7%
TOTAL PART 1 CRIMES Down -8.1%
WILLIAM J. BRATTON
Chief of Police
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