Murders in Los Angeles are down slightly this year

Although a decline from pandemic-era levels, killings exceed totals in the 2010s
Crime
By

Illustration of a body under a sheet behind police tape with a cop in front

 

For the first time in nearly six months, the Los Angeles Police Department has made some weekly citywide crime statistics publicly available. Among the things revealed: The 198 homicides from Jan. 1–Aug. 31 is a 6.2% drop from the same time frame last year.

 

Even more notable: Deadly violence has fallen sharply from the early years of the pandemic. The current count represents a 28.3% decline from the 276 murders during the same period in 2022. 

 

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However, the number of killings remains higher than in the years before COVID-19. Los Angeles, like many other major cities across the country, saw murders rise sharply after the onset of the pandemic, and figures generally remained elevated until 2023.

 

The 2024 murder count in Los Angeles is 11.2% higher than the 178 killings recorded in the first eight months of 2019.

 

Bar chart comparisons number of homicides in Los Angeles in period of Jan. 1–Aug. 31 over 10 years

 

If homicides continue at the current pace, then Los Angeles would finish the year with just under 300 murders. The city has exceeded that level in each of the last four full years—with a high of 402 killings in 2021. However, the 300 level was not cracked even once from 2010–2019.

 

Last year there were 327 murders in Los Angeles.

 

Line chart of annual homicides in the city of Los Angeles from 2019-2023.

 

Changing system

The LAPD this spring embarked on a significant shift in how it gathers and presents crime data. The change was spurred by an FBI requirement for police departments nationwide to adopt the National Incident Based Reports System (or NIBRS). The change meant that, starting in March, the department’s publicly available data portals would either go dark or be limited as the new system was instituted. 

 

Much of the work has been completed, and last week the department’s weekly Compstat reports went back online. This includes figures for murders, rapes, robberies, burglaries and other serious crimes. However, some previously included categories, such as victims shot, are not in the newest report.

 

The list of every crime committed in the city, which has been publicly available since 2010, remains incomplete—for example, it chronicles 91 homicides from Jan. 1–Aug. 31, or less than half of the actual total. It is unclear if missing data will be backfilled.

 

The dearth of recent data makes it impossible for members of the public to detail granular information, such as the number of unhoused murder victims. Additionally, neighborhood-level information cannot be determined, such as how many homicides have occurred in individual communities (last year Downtown had the highest count, with 35 victims). 

 

More death in South L.A.

Still, some aspects of community crime can be identified. This comes via the Compstat reports prepared weekly for the LAPD’s four geographic bureaus and the 21 stations spread across the city.

 

This year, murders in the department’s Central, West and Valley bureaus are all modestly below the level recorded in the first eight months of 2023.

 

However, South Bureau, which traditionally has the highest number of killings, suffered 77 homicides from Jan. 1–Aug. 31, a 13.2% increase over last year (though it is significantly below the figure in 2022). That includes two men who were shot to death on the night of Aug. 20 in the 8600 block of South Figueroa Street.

 

Table charting number of homicides by LAPD bureau in period form Jan. 1–Aug. 31 over 3 years.

 

There can be notable year-over-year variations for individual police stations. That includes the Harbor Station, which patrols neighborhoods including San Pedro and Wilmington. In the first eight months of the year, there were 13 murders in the area, according to Compstat data, up from just three last year (though the count in 2022 was 14 killings).

 

The reverse occurred in Hollenbeck Station, which covers Boyle Heights, El Sereno and other Eastside communities. There have been 11 murders in the area this year, according to station Compstat figures. That is down from 28 in 2023, and 20 homicides in 2022.

 

How we did it: We examined publicly available crime data from the Los Angeles Police Department from Jan. 1, 2010–Aug. 31, 2024, as well as LAPD Compstat data. LAPD data only reflects crimes that are reported to the department, not how many crimes actually occurred. In making our calculations, we rely on the data the LAPD makes publicly available. LAPD may update past crime reports with new information, or recategorize past reports. Those revised reports do not always automatically become part of the public database.

 

Have questions about our data or want to know more? Write to us at askus@xtown.la.