15.7% Increase Recorded in L.A. Murder Rate : Crime: Overall, the Police Department reports a nearly 9% rise in major offenses for the first nine months of the year. All categories were higher with the exception of rape.

The Los Angeles murder rate shot up 15.7% for the first nine months of the year, police said Thursday, with the most dramatic increase coming in the Rampart Division, where officers last week launched a high-publicity offensive to quell rampant drug dealing.

Citywide, there were 649 murders reported through Sept. 30, compared to 561 for the same period last year. In the Rampart Division, which encompasses MacArthur Park and the Pico-Union district, there were 77 murders, compared to 47 during the same period last year.

“In any division, about 50% or so of the homicides are drug-related,” said Detective Andy Cicoria, who heads the Rampart Division homicide unit. “If there is an increase in drug activity in an area, it’s usually reflected in an increase in homicides.

“We can safely say that some of the reason there’s more homicides in Rampart is because there’s an increase in drug activity, which we are actively trying to diminish right now. Hopefully, with the extra enforcement, the homicide rate will drop,” Cicoria said.

Last week, Los Angeles police, frustrated by futile efforts to rid the Pico-Union area of drug dealers, erected barricades around a square-mile section of Pico-Union near MacArthur Park and stationed uniformed officers at most street entrances.

Three days later, police reduced their manpower significantly but have continued to give the area far more attention than usual.

“There is a lot of drug activity in Rampart, absolutely,” Cicoria said. “And we are dealing with it. The street closures are our effort to take back the streets.”

Over all, the Police Department recorded a total of 243,524 major crimes, a nearly 9% increase during the first three quarters of the year, as compared to 224,126 in the same period last year. All categories of crime rose with the exception of rape.

Violent crime rose sharply: Murder was up 15.7%, robbery rose 17.5% to 22,177 cases from 18,868 and aggravated assaults climbed 15.2% to 32,930 incidents from 28,579.

There were 1,476 reported rapes through Sept. 30, compared to 1,538 at the same time last year--a 4% drop.

In other crimes, auto thefts rose the most, increasing 13.8% to 52,536 incidents from 46,170 reported last year.

“We have a crime problem that is intolerable,” said police spokesman Cmdr. Bill Booth. “But, it hasn’t caught us by surprise. Crime is generally on an upward swing. . . . Narcotics is the greatest direct crime problem we have.”

But Booth could offer no single explanation for the increase in crime.

“I don’t know why crime is up,” he said. “There are just too many factors.”

In an attempt to put the rise in murders into perspective, Lt. Fred Nixon, who works with Booth, pointed out that the total number of murders in the city last year was 734, the lowest figure in 10 years.

According to Nixon, a return to a higher total could be expected, especially given the increase in gang-related murders. Those killings totaled 233 through September, compared to 196 last year at the same time.

While the number of murders so far this year has increased considerably over the same period in 1988--649 compared to 561--the increase this year is less dramatic when compared to the 1987 figure of 627 for the same period.

In the Rampart Division, however, this year’s increase appears far more significant. In both 1987 and 1988, the number of murders through September was 47, compared to the figure of 77 so far this year.

In portions of the county patroled by the Sheriff’s Department, murders have also increased slightly this year.

Through Sept. 30, there had been 280 homicides, the department reported. In the same period last year, there were 268 homicides.