Homicide Down 30% From 1993 : Crime: All other serious offenses except rape also showed declines in Los Angeles compared with the same period last year, LAPD statistics show.

Los Angeles’ homicide rate dropped 30% and most other serious crime declined in the city during the first quarter of 1994, compared with the first quarter last year, according to statistics released Thursday by the Police Department.

Homicides in the city totaled 176 from January through March of this year, 76 fewer than the 252 during the same period in 1993. There were similar declines in all other serious crimes except rape, which increased from 386 in the first three months of 1993 to 387 in the first quarter of 1994.

The general decrease here reflected a nationwide trend, according to the FBI, which said serious crimes reported to police throughout the United States dropped 3% last year, after increases of 1% in 1992, 5% in 1991 and 11% in 1990. The FBI’s figures show a 7.6% decrease in reported serious crimes in Los Angeles in 1993.

“Over a period of time, the best efforts of not only the police, but the community and the individuals in it, have finally turned the tide against crime,” Cmdr. David Gascon, an LAPD spokesman, said Thursday.

“Everybody recognizes that violent crime is an enormously important issue, and we are all focusing on that, even though we may not always agree on the possible solutions,” Gascon said. “I think what is important is that people don’t jump to any short-term, erroneous conclusions.

“Statistics don’t tell the whole story,” he said. “There may be a lot of crime out there that is not reported. The fact that the figures are down is a favorable trend, but each homicide is still a tragedy.”

The LAPD statistics released Thursday show the following declines between the first three months in 1993 and the same period in 1994:

* Robberies--a drop from 9,605 to 7,999.

* Aggravated assaults--from 10,061 to 9,152.

* Burglaries--from 12,911 to 10,777.

* Burglaries and thefts from cars--from 17,854 to 16,304.

* Thefts from people--from 839 to 653.

* Other thefts--from 12,329 to 10,340.

* Auto thefts--from 17,935 to 14,081.

LAPD reports reviewed last week by The Times identified dozens of pockets of crime in the city, including corridors along certain thoroughfares that account for large portions of the violent crimes reported.

Among those corridors are stretches of Broadway, Vernon Avenue and Central Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles, an area surrounding the Northridge Fashion Center and a long stretch of Roscoe Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley.

The reports reflected the LAPD’s frustration at its inability to curb certain types of crime.

“The number of arrests for rape seems to have no impact on the numbers of crimes committed,” the LAPD said.