Crime in Los Angeles in four charts
Murders, robbery, break ins and motor vehicle theft are all trending downward in Los Angeles this year, just not at the same rate.
The latest data provided by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Compstat division indicates that the city is recovering from the spike in violent crime and theft that coincided with the COVID-19 lockdown. That period, beginning around March 2020, saw a steep rise in homicides, armed robberies and other crimes – particularly those involving firearms. A similar jump happened in other large cities across the nation.
Now, Los Angeles is part of a nationwide trend of dropping crime levels. Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York City and other large metropolitan areas are also seeing declines. Yet the hangover from the COVID-related surges for certain types of crimes – such as auto theft – remain.
This month, the LAPD announced that, through Aug. 16 of this year, there had been 173 murders committed in the city. That’s 9% below last year at this time, and 10.4% down from the same period in 2023. The lockdown was a brutal time for violent crime, with murders reaching 402 in the entirety of 2021. But Los Angeles is now on track to achieve its fourth consecutive year of declines.
Other cities have seen even sharper drops. Murders in Chicago hit 813 in 2021. Last year that fell to 589.
Grand Theft Auto
If one crime defined the pandemic, it was vehicle theft. (Catalytic converter theft was a close second.)
In Los Angeles, the surge in cars disappearing from streets began as soon as the stay-at-home orders went into effect. This turned into a nationwide crime wave, driven in part by TikTok phenomena such as the “Kia challenge,” where short videos demonstrating how to hotwire a Hyundai or Kia flooded the internet. Many of those cars were taken for joy rides and were recovered within a few days. (Manufacturers have since offered software updates to thwart theft.)
Things haven’t quite returned to “normal” by any stretch. But the numbers are off their 2023 peak. Auto theft this year is on track to drop by around 17% from 2024.
Breaking and entering
Before the pandemic, burglary was on a solid downward trajectory. Then, like many other crimes, it popped back up. Still, the numbers are lower than they were in the years leading up to COVID.
But Los Angeles (and other cities) have been contending with a new culprit: gangs of expert burglars from Chile and other South American countries who arrive on tourist visas, then sweep through neighborhoods. Among their tools are WiFi jammers that disrupt alarm systems. They do occasionally get caught, however. In January, police in Glendale and Beverly Hills arrested members of a gang accused of a string of burglaries across the Southland.
Stick up
To understand robbery numbers, context is key: Compared with a decade ago, there has been roughly a 33% decrease. But the totals have not budged much over the past four years. If trends continue, this year could result in a sizable decrease. This city is on track for about 800 fewer robberies than in 2024.
Data deficit
For 14 years, the LAPD published some of the most complete and transparent crime data of any police agency in the nation. That ground to a halt in March 2024, when the department began migrating to a new records management system. A process that was supposed to take six months has now dragged on for 17 months. The LAPD informed Crosstown that the data should return by the end of September. The absence of the full dataset makes it difficult to get a complete picture of public safety in Los Angeles. The department’s Compstat division only releases aggregated numbers of major crimes.
How we did it: We analyzed recent Compstat reports with past data records published by the LAPD in order to present data going back as much as 15 years.
Have questions about our data? Write to us at askus@xtown.la
