L.A. ENJOYS HEALTHY DROP IN HOMICIDES.Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer A year after Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. clinched the dubious title of the nation's murder capital, homicides have dropped 22.6 percent - the result of Police Chief William Bratton's war against street gangs, officials said Monday. With two days remaining in 2003, the city recorded 490 homicides, down from 633 last year. That puts Los Angeles in third place behind New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , with 578 homicides, and Chicago, with 560. ``Last year we were stuck with that title, and nobody was proud to accept that,'' said Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell, second in command of the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . . ``We were determined this
year that that would not be the case.''
Last year's spike in homicides was blamed on an outbreak of gang violence, prompting Bratton to declare war against street gangs, whose members he described as ``domestic terrorists.'' ``Gangs seem to be the root cause of so much afflicting af·flict tr.v. af·flict·ed, af·flict·ing, af·flicts To inflict grievous physical or mental suffering on. [Middle English afflighten, from afflight, the city of Los Angeles
As a result, patrol officers and anti-gang units worked more aggressively, and they improved cooperation and communication with federal, state and other local agencies. ``Over the last year, we've focused our resources on where violent crime is the most prevalent,'' McDonnell said. ``The community has also stepped up to identify who they know to be involved in criminal activity. That was a tremendous help to us.'' Large anti-gang coalitions - including residents of neighborhoods that had been plagued by crime, former gang members, school police and county law enforcement authorities - have joined in community cooperation with the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. to keep the peace. ``You have officers and command staff who are very sensitive to the community and very sensitive to those who want to work in partnership with them,'' said Ed Turley, founder of Stop The Killin', a grass-roots gang-intervention group in South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. . ``We're extremely pleased.'' Eric Monkkonen, a professor of history and policy studies at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , said he believes Bratton has delivered on his vow to target street gangs. ``I'm very happy about it,'' said Monkkonen, who is researching Los Angeles homicides since the 1830s. ``It must be due to an increase in police efforts and an increase in a smart way.'' The number of homicides plummeted 27.7 percent in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , from 112 last year to 81 through Saturday, the latest statistics available. ``Every crime category in the Valley Bureau is down,'' said Cmdr. Valentino Paniccia. ``It's been a good year. We're looking good. The officers have done a fantastic job.'' Capt. Kirk Albanese, who heads the Foothill Division, which historically records the most gang-related violence in the Valley, is pleased, but said there still are too many shootings on Northeast Valley streets. In the Foothill area, homicides dropped 31 percent, from 32 last year to 22 this year, but the numbers of attempted murders and assaults climbed 25 percent, from 169 last year to 212. Nearly all are gang-related, Albanese said. ``Either we got lucky because the bullet didn't hit a vital area, or, if it did hit a life-threatening area, (doctors) were able to keep these shooting victims alive. It's amazing,'' Albanese said. When Bratton became Los Angeles police chief in October 2002, he vowed an all-out war against gangs, labeling them the root cause of the city's worst violence and even calling them more dangerous than gangs on the East Coast. He shifted anti-gang officers on a day-to-day basis to identify active gang members and their leaders and to get them off the streets. Federal agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established in 1973 by President richard m. nixon as part of the Justice Department, thus uniting a number of federal drug agencies that had often worked at cross-purposes. and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms allied themselves with the LAPD. Federal prosecutors even targeted some gang leaders with the same racketeering Traditionally, obtaining or extorting money illegally or carrying on illegal business activities, usually by Organized Crime . A pattern of illegal activity carried out as part of an enterprise that is owned or controlled by those who are engaged in the illegal activity. laws used to fight the Mafia. Jason Kandel, (818) 713-3664 jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): box Box: HOMICIDES IN LOS ANGELES: SOURCE: Los Angeles, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia police departments and the FBI. Daily News |
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