What the First Six Months of 2018 Tell Us About LA Crime

The number of reported crimes in the first half of 2018 held steady from the same period in 2017 – only a 0.36% increase, rising to 109,475 from 109,083.

June of 2018 only had a 0.44% increase in reported crimes from June of 2017.

Vandalism was the most reported crime of the first half of 2018, with 10,339 in total. It was also the most reported in 2017.

Below are incident numbers of the first half of 2017 compared with the same period 2018 for the five most common crimes:

2017           2018

Vandalism -0.02%

10,365  —> 10,345

Battery* +10%

8,723 —> 9,615

Theft from vehicle +4%
8,782  —> 9,128

Stolen vehicle -6%
9,399 —> 8,855

Burglary -4%
7.965 —> 7,606

Some serious crimes had a more dramatic rise in report numbers.

Reports of human trafficking for commercial sex acts increased to 57 from 9 reports in the first half of 2017.

There were 35 reports of child pornography in the first half of 2018, as well. This is up from 7 in the same period of 2017.

Here are some other crimes with significant increases in the first six months of 2017 and 2018:

2017           2018

Human trafficking for commercial sex acts: +533%
9 —> 57

Child pornography: +400%
7 —> 35

Lewd conduct: +83%
53 —> 97

Prowler: +67%
39 —> 65

Criminal threats: +14%
2,490 —> 2,835

Battery*: +10%
8,723 —> 9,611

Here are some crime reports with significant decreases in the first half of 2017 and 2018:

2017           2018

Purse snatching: -38%
84 —> 52

Document forgery: -36%
1,170 —> 749

Crime against child: -30%
300 —> 209

Identity theft: -23%
6,152 —> 4,789

Stolen vehicle: -6%
9,399 —> 8,855

We collect and sort the data produced by the Los Angeles Police Department. Find more details about our data here.

Check out our other story on 2018 crime updates here.

Still have questions? Write to us at askus@xtown.la

*not included: battery with sexual contact, battery on police officer, battery on firefighter.