Weapons Crimes Up 7% in Public Schools

After a five-year decline, weapons crimes increased in Los Angeles schools last year.

District Police Chief Wesley Mitchell reported that there were 1,043 weapons crimes, up about 7% from the previous year.

Also rising were drug and alcohol offenses, up 2%; battery, up 9%; vandalism, up 9%; and loitering, up 8%.

At the same time, burglaries declined 20%, graffiti were down 17%, and robbery / extortion and theft dropped by about 1% each. There were no homicides, compared with three the year before.

Mitchell said the numbers should not be interpreted to suggest that schools have become more dangerous, because gains have been made in past years against a backdrop of rapidly increasing enrollment. Enrollment increased 14,000 last year.

Most of the increase in weapons crimes involved weapons other than guns, such as knives and rocks. Crimes committed with firearms declined from 179 to 150, Mitchell said.

“Our focus five years ago was an all-out assault on handgun violence,” he said. “The strategy has been effective. What we have not done effectively is deal with the issue that causes kids to bring handguns to school, and that is fear.”