LA Homicides Are Up

Misbar investigated and discovered that Los Angeles (LA) county and the city of Los Angeles, California are both off to a deadlier start in 2021 than the year before. According to the latest available data from the LA Sheriff’s Department, the first two months of this year have seen a 186% increase in LA county homicides from the same time last year. 

According to abc7.com, homicides in the city of Los Angeles are also up. Through February 27 of this year, 64 people had been killed in the city, an increase of 39% from the 46 homicides at the same time last year. Interestingly, the shootings come as the city has experienced a nearly 26% drop in overall crime during the first two months of the year. 

According to Crosstown, the recent increase in homicides in Los Angeles is alarming. However, it is nowhere near the levels reported in previous decades. In 1992, the year of the Rodney King riots, there were 2,589 homicides reported. Going back further, to 1980, 1,028 people were killed in Los Angeles. The social media post that has recently been shared blames defunding the police for the increase in homicides. However, homicides over the last decade in LA are a fraction of what they were in the 1980s and 1990s. 

The social media post being shared is correct that the latest available data show that an increase in homicides in LA county are up 186%. However, it is too soon to determine if defunding the police has had an impact. The present homicide rate is a fraction of what it has been in the past.