LAPD Reports Homicides Up Sharply in 1st Quarter
The numbers of homicides and other serious crimes in Los Angeles during the first three months of 2002 were sharply higher than for the same period last year, according to police statistics released Monday.
From Jan. 1 to March 30, 153 people were slain in Los Angeles, up from 105 during the first quarter of 2001, according to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Information Technology Division.
After 1999--when total homicides hit a 30-year low of 425--the city has had two successive years in which killings have been on the rise. There were 584 homicides in Los Angeles during 2001.
The LAPD statistics show rapes increased from 252 during the first quarter of 2001 to 342 so far this year, robberies went from 3,670 to 4,392, and aggravated assaults climbed from 3,888 at this time last year to 4,466.
Burglaries were down from 6,235 last year to 6,183 so far this year, and larcenies were down from 19,857 to 19,659.
The first-quarter numbers show that the division with the most homicides so far this year was 77th Street, which has had 34. All of the other 17 divisions had at least one homicide, ranging from Hollenbeck and Southeast, with 17 each, to West Los Angeles with one.
The department reported making 12% fewer arrests during the quarter than it did at the beginning of 2001.
LAPD representatives did not return calls for comment Monday.
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