Homicides in ’03 Plunge 23% From Year Before

Homicides tumbled 23% in 2003 and violent crime fell 4.3% for the calendar year, according to final numbers released Friday by the Los Angeles Police Department.

The city ended the year with 505 slayings, almost a quarter fewer than the 658 killings reported the previous year. Also declining were other serious, or so-called Part I, crimes such as rape, robbery and assault.

Reported rapes fell 9% to 1,115 in 2003 from 1,231 the year before, while robberies dipped 4% to 16,447 from 17,062 and aggravated assaults were down 7%, to 17,548 from 18,938.

“These were enormous reductions in a time when economically it wasn’t a good year for the nation, unemployment was up and we’re due to have a rise in the juvenile population,” said LAPD Capt. Al Michelena. “This past year Los Angeles was able to show with this reduction that you can have influence on crime through good, hard police work.”

Michelena said homicide victims mostly were males in their late teens or early 20s. Most killings were tied to gangs or drugs and took place from midnight Friday to midnight Sunday.

Homicide victims were 50% Latino, 39% African American and 7% white. Murder suspects were 48% Latino, 36% black, 7% white and 9% from other racial or ethnic groups. Census figures for 2000 show the ethnic breakdown of the city’s population to be 47% Latino, 30% white and 11% black.

South Los Angeles bore the brunt of the deaths. Among the LAPD’s 18 divisions, Southeast led with 77 killings, followed by 77th Street with 65, Southwest with 53 and Newton with 46.

The four divisions with the fewest slayings -- Pacific, West L.A., West Valley and Van Nuys -- had a combined 29 deaths.

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Los Angeles crime declines

Preliminary final crime numbers for the city of Los Angeles in 2003 show across-the-board decreases in homicides and other serious crimes compared with 2002.

*--* Crime 2002 2003 Difference* All serious crimes 173,612 166,271 -4% Homicide 658 505 -23% Rape 1,231 1,115 -9% Robbery 17,062 16,447 -4% Aggravated assault 18,938 17,548 -7% Burglary 24,880 24,575 -1% Burglary, theft from an auto 42,160 40,557 -4% Auto theft 32,382 31,746 -2%

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Source: LAPD* Figures are rounded