L.A.'s crime rate is down to 1950s levels (Los Angeles: city hall, neighborhoods)

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

Not since the Beach Boys were in peach fuzz and crew cuts has it been so safe to live and play in the City of Angels. Believe it: you are more likely to be murdered in Columbus, Ohio, or Tulsa, Okla., than in the nation’s second most populous city.

“You have to go back to 1957 — when I was four years old! — to find a similar period,” Charlie Beck, the Los Angeles police chief, was telling me. “How crazy is that?”

L.A. Consequential - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com


Nice to see some good news.

[allenk893]

That's really nice. Good news in LA for a change. I was beginning to think you guys were hopeless. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a rainbow shining over Compton soon!

[shiphead]

hmmm me thinks this article is deceiving people. The same crimes have being committed for years, its only the frequency that has changed. That of course comes with population numbers. This trend can be recorded all the way back to the 1920's. Sorry the 1950's weren't anymore safe then today.

Why do you think such agencies like the police, Scotland yard, and the FBI were invented?

If he thinks the Mexican mafia and drug cartel have magically disappeared and made California safe again. He is wrong. Don't give me that debbie downer ****, go look it up.

[JohnG72]

It's not entirely true....the way things are presented is sort of disingenuous.

Yes LAPD has had an impact and yes certain neighborhoods have gentrified. Some gangs have been eliminated entirely(Toonerville, White Fence, etc). And some gangs have slowed activity. So there are areas that are MUCH safer than they were ten years ago.

However....in the 1950's there were HUGE swaths of the city that were extremely safe. I'd guess that the entire SF Valley was basically like Leave It To Beaver. East LA and Highland Park were not the same neighborhoods they are now, and even the area south of the 10, east of the 110 was pretty decent.

The real problem in LA continues to be the "opportunity" crimes. Basically there are predators out there....lots...who will take advantage of whatever situation is presented. This is constant and infects pretty much every neighborhood in LA, even the nice ones. This whole scenario does not affect suburbs outside LA, not even the rougher areas.

IMO to eliminate that, LAPD needs to put officers on foot patrol....or segways or bikes or horses or whatever...their presence needs to be constant and they need to be in a situation where the officers and community know each other. They need to go back to a 5 day a week schedule for officers rather than the current 3 day workweeks, disband all their specialized units(make one narco and one gang unit per bureau...per every 5 stations), and assign those officers to targeted foot beats.

The areas I'm most familiar with where I would assign foot patrol officers...where I think they would have the greatest impact....

In the SF Valley: Van Nuys Bl/VN city hall, Reseda's business district, North Hollywood particularly Lankershim from Victory to Roscoe, Panorama City around VN Bl and Roscoe, Sunland on Foothill Bl, Sepulveda Bl from Sherman Way to Nordoff.

In LA....Hollywood(Sunset Bl), Silver Lake/Echo Park on Sunset, Alvarado/Mcarthur Park area, Downtown LA particularly Main, Spring, Broadway, and Los Angeles street, Eagle Rock/Highland Park along Figueroa.

[matt345]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

However....in the 1950's there were HUGE swaths of the city that were extremely safe. I'd guess that the entire SF Valley was basically like Leave It To Beaver. East LA and Highland Park were not the same neighborhoods they are now, and even the area south of the 10, east of the 110 was pretty decent.

The same can be said for pretty much every other American city unfortunately. SF's Bayview/Hunter's Point used to be a thriving working class neighborhood, now it's a no-go war zone of public housing. East Saint Louis; Camden/Newark, NJ; Detroit; Gary, IN; the Bronx....they all were much more pleasant places in the 1950's. If we're going to be skeptical of LA's crime statistics, we need to do the same for all other cities such as NYC, which annual proclaims to be the safest big city in America.

[jc76]

Funny when there's good news it's taken with caution. Yet when the bad stuff happens it's accepted with open arms so we can all dwell on it.
Los Angeles could turn into Mayberry and some would say it's a government cover up.

[Island_OnThe_Land]

Originally Posted by w1ngzer0

hmmm me thinks this article is deceiving people. The same crimes have being committed for years, its only the frequency that has changed. That of course comes with population numbers. This trend can be recorded all the way back to the 1920's. Sorry the 1950's weren't anymore safe then today.

Why do you think such agencies like the police, Scotland yard, and the FBI were invented?

If he thinks the Mexican mafia and drug cartel have magically disappeared and made California safe again. He is wrong. Don't give me that debbie downer ****, go look it up.

Your post makes no sense.

Yes, the FREQUENCY has changed!!!! That is the good news: we are a safer city than we were 20 years ago. The crime stats are reported per captia to ADJUST for CHANGES in POP.

Are we a perfectly safe city? No, but the TREND is certiainly encouraging.....

Why is it that conspiracy theorists seem to proliferate here on City-Data. Do you also think the moon landing was some kind of a hoax???

[CantWait2Leave]

I don't believe it at all. My father was born and raised in L.A. and he definitely doesn't feel as safe as when it was the 50s.

[Island_OnThe_Land]

Originally Posted by CantWait2Leave

I don't believe it at all. My father was born and raised in L.A. and he definitely doesn't feel as safe as when it was the 50s.

Well, to be honest what your father "feels" is not the issue....the empircal evidence is what it is. People do have a nostalgia for the 1950's. Life was slower, simpler. So it seems like things were so great.

But SMOG was worse in the '50's, more Americans died in car accidents (per capita), Racism was the law of the land, and if you think the LAPD is corrupt today try the 1950's LAPD!!!!!

[JohnG72]

You guys are missing the point by quite a bit. Yes crime is down. No doubt about it. I feel safer out. Even in the rougher areas. And the numbers support that.

I have zero doubt that LA right now is a MUCH safer place than it was in the early 1990's.

But there is no way in hell its as safe a place as it was in the 50's. And thats the comparison that LAPD has been trying to make. And its not a vailid comparison.

I'll also note that much of LAPD's emphasis has in the past few years correctly been on violent crime, while ignoring enforcement on property crimes. However, that continues despite the record decline in violent crimes. LAPD patrol officers pay all of 5 seconds attention when they get called to a property crime scene. There are relatively few detectives assigned to auto burglary and other property crimes. I maintain that LAPD MUST disband its specialized units and assign ALL those officers to patrol duty, initiate a beat patrol program throughout the city, and revert all officers to a 5 day a week schedule.

I probably will not be a popular guy amoung the rank and file for suggesting this. But the truth is that the reason for putting officers on a 3/12 schedule(that they'd leave for other departments) is now gone. Few other departments are hiring, and those that are do not pay as well as LAPD. A 5/40 schedule benefits the citizens of LA by providing the most officers patrolling on the street as is possible. The citizens safety should have priority over the officers work schedule if there are no other mitigating factors.