Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Police Chief Charlie Beck addressed the city’s rising crime rate Wednesday, calling it an “unacceptable” development and “bad news” for the city.
Mid-year statistics released by the Los Angeles Police Department show overall crime has risen nearly 13 percent since the start of the year, reversing a 12-year decline. Violent crime was up 20.6 percent, with aggravated assaults and rapes jumping 26 and 8 percent respectively. Major properties crimes, meanwhile, rose 12.7 percent.
Garcetti and Beck said domestic violence may have played a role in the uptick. To combat the problem, domestic violence response teams will be deployed to all 21 police divisions by the end of summer. The two also pointed to the passage of Proposition 47 in November of 2014, which reduced a host of felonies to misdemeanors. While it is still too early to determine Proposition 47’s full impact, Garcetti said savings from the initiative did not go to intervention programs as promised.
In addition to the domestic violence teams, 200 police officers will be added to a back-up unit station outside of the LAPD Metropolitan Division. Police officers will also receive extra training in the coming months, including "preservation of life training” and instruction on how to deal with the mentally ill.
Read more about the uptick in crime here.
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