Drunk driving, domestic violence and drug possession among top reasons for arrests

The majority of crimes were committed by people in their 20s and 30s
Crime

handcuffs art

 

Drunk driving with alcohol or drugs, domestic violence and possession of a controlled substance were the top reasons people were arrested by the LAPD during the first nine months of this year. The majority of arrests were from people in their 20s or 30s.

 

People in their 20s made up nearly 34% of all arrests during the first nine months of this year, followed by nearly 27% for people in their 30s, according to LAPD data. Overall, there were 4,686 arrests for drunk driving with alcohol or drugs; 3,586 arrests for domestic violence and 2,659 arrests for possession of controlled substance, making those three the most common reasons for arrest from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2019.

 

Domestic violence is referred to as a “corporal injury” charge falls under California law. It can apply to situations where the victim was a spouse or former spouse or someone you are in or have been in an intimate or close domestic relationship with.

 

Arrests made for drunk driving with alcohol and drugs were down 7% during the first nine months of this year. Arrests for drinking in public were also down, by almost half, according to LAPD data.

 

Detective Meghan Aguilar, an LAPD spokesperson, said they have four traffic bureaus with offices that are highly trained in spotting someone driving under the influence and residents shouldn’t be surprised they make a lot of arrests for being under any kind of influence.

 

“You’re taking everyone’s life on the streets into your hands. We do a lot of education, but we also do DUI checkpoints because it affects such a huge part of the population,” said Det. Aguilar. “So it’s a proactive piece of our enforcement. It’s easy to designate a driver or take a ride share program.”

 

Det. Aguilar also said it’s hard to attribute why drinking in public arrests are down. The LAPD hasn’t changed their enforcement policies on that issue.

 

Top reasons for arrests graphic

When it comes to grouping arrests by age, don’t be surprised that people in their 20s make up the majority of arrests.

 

“It makes the most sense because the biggest risk taking group would reasonably be people in their twenties,” said Det. Aguilar. “In my own experience, 20-year-olds are the biggest risk takers and still forming good decision-making processes so sometimes they find themselves in situations they shouldn’t be in, compared to people in their thirties that are usually more rooted and have families.”

 

There were 7,460 arrests made in which the LAPD data did not show a charge description during the first nine months of 2019, compared to 9,392 during the same time last year.

 

 

top arrests by age graphic

 

Two men in their 90s were arrested this year. Wondering why anyone that age would be arrested?

 

In both incidents this year, the men were charged with domestic violence felonies. The first incident occurred at 4:45 a.m. on Feb. 18 on the 900 block of South Lake Street in the Pico-Union neighborhood. The other incident occurred at 8:18 p.m. on July 3 on the 2400 block of South Saint Andrews Place in Jefferson Park.

 

Those age 90 and older seemed to have learned their lesson from last year. Arrests were down during the first nine months of this year for this age group by two-thirds, according to LAPD data.

 

Los Angeles residents in their 80s were the only age group that saw an increase of nearly 2% in arrests during the first nine months of this year, compared to the same time last year.