Sometimes a city’s reputation precedes it. Myths and misunderstandings can loom large, creating a filter of clichés through which viewers peer while coming to conclusions that don’t always meet with reality. Particularly when that city is Los Angeles, the City of Angels; the glimmering, golden, glitzy city by the sea, where the pendulum can swing from brazen Hollywood stars to bloody gangland street crime. Both are true, but both are just glimpses; beyond that is world as wide and varied as any city in any state. And, as it turns out, this big city, which used to be called the “murder capital of the United States,” now has the lowest crime rate of the top four big cities (over 2 million) in the country: New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles.

That assignation was made in July of 2012; as of the first quarter of this year, the decade-long trend continues. At a news conference in Los Angeles on Friday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announced that crime stats were in for 2013’s first quarter and they had taken another significant drop. From KPCC Public Radio:

In the most dramatic figure, gang-related homicides took a 66.7 percent dive over the past eight years since Villaraigosa took office, a sign of progress Beck attributed to the “recognition that violence in Los Angeles is gang violence, which is why we focus on gang crime so heavily.” Villaraigosa also touted the dramatic reduction in gang-related crimes as an achievement of his time in office, with the new numbers showing gang-related crimes took a 55.3 percent dip since 2005. Citywide violent and property crimes dropped 33.9 percent in that same period. [… ] When this quarter’s total homicides are compared with 2005, the homicide rate in Los Angeles declined by 49.6 percent, or nearly half, over the past eight years. Beck framed the drop as an “additional 300 people” who are alive and walking the “streets of Los Angeles every year.” Rapes, which saw an uptick last year, came down by 39.4 percent to 124 cases, while aggravated assaults dipped by 11.3 percent and robberies by 13.2 percent.

A stark turnaround for a city well-known for its deadly riots (the Watts Riot in 1965 and the LA Riots of 1992), entrenched gang warfare, toxic drug crimes, and the usual litany of theft, robbery, property destruction, etc. It’s a tough city hidden behind the beauty of palm trees, mountains and a stunning coastline, but in the last ten years it’s a city reinvented.

The downward trend in crime started in the last two years of former Mayor James Hahn’s term, but gained significant steam during Villaraigosa’s tenure. When he became the first Mexican American to serve as LA’s mayor in the last 130 years, his commitment to bring down the crime rate, particularly related to pervasive gang activity, was a prominent platform of his campaign. A believer in the “community policing” model, Villaraigosa was also a strong supporter of increasing the number of police on the job. He promised to hire 1,000 additional officers during his term but has only been able to add 800 so far; he term-limits out in June and has acknowledged that his successor will have to make up the difference. But despite disappointments, the plummeting crime stats throughout the entirety of his two-term administration indicate the clear success of his tenure, which he attributes accordingly:

“[The] crime rate is at a record low because the police force is at a record high.” “If you want to be the mayor of Los Angeles, then you’re going to have to continue to hire police at the levels that we have,” said Villaraigosa, who will leave office at the end of June. “You’re going to have to continue to make sure public safety is our number one priority.”

In 2005, police officers numbered 9,284. Today, there are just over 10,000 police officers, according to department statistics. [Source]

Hopefully politics and budget shortfalls won’t stymie the trend. In the March primary election this year, Los Angeles voters rejected Proposition A, which would have raised the sales tax by 0.5 percent, earmarked to help bring down the city’s budget deficit. Without that influx, city leaders have warned that the police department might take at least some of the hit, along with other tax-funded departments.

We’ll see how Los Angelenos feel about that. It’s one things to hear about declining stats, it’s another to actually feel the difference. And per the Los Angeles residents interviewed by CBS local news (see video here), the trend is being felt. Once a city gets accustomed to safer streets, fewer shootings, less gang violence and a drop in sexual assaults, it doesn’t want to go backwards. With or without Prop A, city leaders will have to find a way to honor Villaraigosa’s promise to keep the police force growing and on the streets. Being the “safest big city in America” is not a title to be taken lightly.

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