Yesterday I joined LAPD Chief Beck, Mayor Villaraigosa, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and my colleagues on the City Council to announce that crime is down in the City of Los Angeles nearly 7 %. Violent Crime is down 11% and Property Crime is down nearly 6%.Homicides dropped below 300 for the first time in decades and our City is the safest it has been since 1952. I want to thank Chief Beck and all the men and women of the LAPD for the sacrifices they make each and every day to protect us and make our city safer.
Special recognition to Captain Anita Ortega, Captain William Murphy and Captain Todd Chamberlain and their officers for their work in Council District 14. Crime continues to drop in all divisions in our district.
I also want to thank all those working in intervention and prevention programs. Gang crime in our city dropped 11% in 2010. Programs like our highly successful Summer Night Lights program are having an impact. Since 2008, gang crime has dropped 40% in the areas around the parks that offer the program. In the area around Highland Park Recreation Center, where the program was offered for the first time in 2010, gang crime fell 68%.
Despite a tough economy, we are making headway against crime in the City of Los Angeles. Let’s continue the fight in 2011.
