LAPD Aims for 20% Reduction in Homicides

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton and Mayor James K. Hahn will announce today the goal of a 20% reduction in homicides this year, building on the success of 2003 when the number of killings decreased by almost a quarter.

The pronouncement before community leaders at a South Los Angeles church will be part of a larger crime-reduction plan that Bratton is laying out for his officers this year despite fiscal uncertainties.

“They are very ambitious goals considering we are currently in a budget crisis,” Bratton said Tuesday. He added, however, that both he and Assistant Chief George Gascon, newly named chief of operations, believe they’re attainable.

Bratton predicted last year, his first full year on the job, that he could reduce the number of homicides by 25% and violent crime overall by 10%. Although he pulled back from those goals after the City Council rejected his request for 320 new officers, the city finished the year with a 23% reduction in homicides and a 6% drop in serious crime.

Those decreases came as Bratton overhauled the LAPD’s command structure, required detectives to work nights and weekends when most crimes occur, made combating gang violence a priority, and sought to increase cooperation between his department and local police agencies as well as the federal government.

To keep the numbers going in the right direction, Bratton and Gascon said they would try to squeeze additional efficiencies out of the department and its 9,200 officers.

In a preview of some of the new LAPD initiatives, Gascon said they would redefine designations for certain radio calls to distinguish, for example, between situations that are under control and those that aren’t. They also will seek to introduce new technology such as cameras and computer software to more quickly and thoroughly search a suspect’s criminal background and prioritize criminal investigations based on solvability.

The stakes are high not only in terms of public safety but also because of the potential economic impact, from hospital costs to businesses leaving the city, LAPD officials said.

Using methods developed by the National Institute of Justice, LAPD officials did a study that concluded that the decrease in the number of homicides from 658 in 2002 to 506 last year saved the city about $462 million. Those savings included costs of hospital care and police and fire response.

The “investment in police should be seen as that, an investment,” Bratton said. “There’s such a tremendous economic impact on a city when crime goes down.”

In addition to the crime reduction goals, Bratton said, officials today would explain steps the department has taken to improve investigations into incidents involving police force.

“We are seeking to really educate the leadership of many of the city’s communities ... as to the many changes that occurred,” Bratton said. As a result, he added, “they should have confidence if a shooting does occur, that there are many levels of outside scrutiny involved.”

The panel meeting with community leaders will include federal monitor Michael Cherkasky, Police Commission President David Cunningham, Deputy Chief Michael Berkow and Gerald Chaleff, the LAPD civilian official in charge of implementing reforms mandated by the federal government after the Rampart corruption scandal.