Murders and robberies tumble in Los Angeles, while police shootings spike

 

In 2025, the city of Los Angeles recorded one of its safest years in decades, with crime in many categories dipping below pre-COVD levels.

 

“Across all persons and property crimes, the city experienced 22,022 fewer crimes in 2025 than in 2024,” Police Chief Jim McDonnell told the civilian Los Angeles Police Commission Tuesday morning.

 

Yet the reduction remains tempered by a spike in the number of times Los Angeles Police Department officers fired their weapons—a 62% annual increase in what the department terms “officer-involved shootings.”

 

At the commission meeting, McDonnell heralded the shift in homicides, which in Los Angeles and other major cities had risen precipitously during the pandemic.

 

In 2021 there were 402 murders in the city of Los Angeles, the highest total in 15 years. The number of victims has declined each year since then, and last year fell to 230, McDonnell told the commission.

 

“This marks the fewest total homicides since 1966, when there were 226,” he said. He added that the homicide rate in the city was 5.9 victims per 100,000 residents, “making it the lowest homicide rate since 1959, when the rate was 5.5 per 100,000.”

 

 

Other major cities also saw homicides fall last year.

 

More police shootings

However, McDonnell stated that LAPD officers were experiencing an increasing number of incidents in which people brandished weapons. These were not only guns, but also knives or other “edged” weapons, causing officers to use their firearms. 

 

The spike in officer-involved shootings often involved people suffering mental-health emergencies, and the rise prompted citywide consternation. In December, Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that, “I am particularly concerned about how individuals’ mental health may be factoring into these incidents.”

 

At Tuesday’s meeting, McDonnell said there were three police shootings in the final four weeks of the year. That brought the 2025 total to 47, compared with 29 the prior year.

 

 

This marks the highest number of police shootings since 2015, when there were 48, according to the LAPD’s 2024 Use of Force Year-End Review.

 

In 1990, when the city was experiencing record levels of violence, the LAPD recorded 115 police shootings.

 

Robbery reduction

It is currently impossible for the public to get a complete look at crime data in Los Angeles. The LAPD in March 2024 began a change in its records management system. The work was supposed to be completed in six months, but the LAPD has blown through numerous self-imposed deadlines. The result is that for nearly two years, Angelenos have not had full, accessible data, and cannot track neighborhood-specific crime levels. 

 

No timeline for completing the work has been revealed.

 

The department still publishes weekly Compstat reports, which provide counts for the most serious crimes. The Compstat figures in this story are through Dec. 27, 2025 (the most recent date available).

 

Robbery, like murder, is classified as a violent crime. Through Dec. 27, the LAPD had logged 7,213 robberies. While that number will rise as late-year offenses are added, there will almost certainly be a substantial annual decline from the 8,637 robbery reports in 2024.

 

 

Fewer missing cars

Soon after the onset of the pandemic, car thefts began soaring in Los Angeles, with thieves targeting vehicles that sat on the streets for extended periods. This was exacerbated by the appearance of online videos that showed how to overwhelm the ignition system of Kias, Hyundais and other models.

 

The result was that even after people picked up old driving habits, stolen vehicle reports kept surging, nearing 27,000 reports in 2023.

 

The figure declined slightly in 2024, then fell more dramatically last year. The full-year total could come in just under 20,000.

 

 

Still, last year’s count remains well above the 15,724 thefts recorded in 2019.

 

A better hold on property

Compstat figures show that Angelenos are much more likely to be a victim of a property crime than a violent crime. Of the approximate 108,000 crime reports through Dec. 27, 78% were property crimes.

 

Burglary has garnered significant attention in recent years, due in part to organized groups of thieves, sometimes from other countries, hitting homes in neighborhoods across Los Angeles. In 2023 the LAPD tabulated 15,340 burglary reports.

 

Through Dec. 27, 2025, the count was 11,303.

 

 

Another significant decline is seen in vehicle break-ins. This remains the most common crime in the city of Los Angeles, and the annual count surpassed 30,000 in three of the six years between 2019 and 2024.

 

A downward trend that began in 2024 continued last year. Through Dec. 27, the LAPD had tallied 23,652 reports.

 

 

The LAPD traditionally reports full-year homicide figures in January, and complete crime totals for the calendar year come out later. 

 

How we did it: We examined publicly available crime data from the Los Angeles Police Department from Jan. 1, 2019–Dec. 31, 2025, as well as LAPD Compstat data. The public data has remained incomplete since March 2024, due to a change in the LAPD’s records management system. 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.