Stepping up its efforts to combat hit-and-runs, a city panel gave its support Friday to launching a pilot program offering a standing reward of $50,000 in cases where someone is killed.

The Public Safety Committee said there would be a sliding scale of rewards ranging from $1,000 when there is property damage to $25,000 when there are injuries.

“We have the distinction of being known as the hit-and-run capital of the country,” Councilman Joe Buscaino said of the continuing rash of such incidents. “We want to change the culture on how this crime is considered.

“We offer rewards in murder cases, and we have standing rewards for illegal dumping. The question then became, why don’t we do this for hit-and-runs?”

The city has already dropped the word “accident” in these cases, instead referring to all of them as crimes. It is also seeking an increase in penalties for those involved with hit-and-runs.

The Los Angeles Police Department reported there were 21,000 hit-and-runs last year, with 41 deaths. The vast majority of the cases — some 17,000 — involve property damage and are resolved through civil court actions, officials said.

Under the new policy, the department will no longer need City Council approval for the amounts of the rewards, and they would be automatically offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect.

The LAPD hopes to have details worked out in the next few months on the scope of a pilot project, including where it will be carried out, along with information on how to publicize the effort to Angelenos.

“The goal is to change the culture of hit-and-runs,” Buscaino said. “The crime starts with the driver. We need to change their mindset so they know people are watching and could come forward.”