New data released from the Los Angeles Police Department shows that the city’s murder rate has dipped from the previous year, down 6.2% from 2023.
The Compstat data was analyzed by independent news organization Crosstown LA, which noted 198 homicides that took place within LAPD jurisdiction from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31.
While ideally that homicide figure would be closer to zero, the 2024 rate of deadly violence is still vastly better than what was experienced during the heyday of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The current count represents a 28.3% decline from the 276 murders during the same period in
2022,” Crosstown reported.
If the current pace continues, L.A. could finish the year with fewer than 300 homicides — something that hasn’t happened in the previous four years.
In 2023, there were 327 murders in L.A.; in 2019, the highest during that time frame, there were 402.
While homicide rates have improved in the last handful of years, in Los Angeles, like in many major cities in the U.S., the number of post-pandemic murders are still significantly higher than pre-pandemic figures.
For example, during the first eight months of 2019, there were 178 killings recorded in the city of Los Angeles — 11.2% fewer than in 2024.
The LAPD station with the highest number of killings this year is the South Bureau, which experienced 77 homicides during the first eight months of the year, 13.2% higher than the same time frame in 2023. Crosstown says the number of murders in that region are still “significantly below the figure in 2022.”
The Harbor Station, which patrols neighborhoods like San Pedro and Wilmington, has recorded 13 homicides this year, but only experienced three the previous year.
But Crosstown said it’s not unusual for wide year-over-year variations at individual police stations.
Hollenbeck Station, which includes Boyle Heights, El Sereno and other Eastside communities, have experienced 11 murders this year, down from the 28 it recorded during the same time frame in 2023 and the 20 it experienced in 2022.
Crosstown used publicly available crime data from the LAPD as well as Compstat data, to determine the current homicide rate and compare it to previous years.
The news organization states that it only has access to data that is made available by police, and the numbers could change if past crime reports are updated with new information. Those updated reports don’t always become part of the public database automatically, Crosstown said.
For the complete report by Crosstown, as well details about the challenges its newsroom has faced in recent months due to a “significant shift” in how the LAPD gathers and presents crime data, click here.