The Associated Press
 LAPD officers listen as mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and police chief William J. Bratton present preliminary year-end crime statistics Tuesday. (AP Photo) |
Los Angeles -- Crime in the city dropped for a fifth straight year, but gang violence spiked 14 percent in 2006, according to preliminary police statistics released Tuesday.
Violent crimes dipped 2.6 percent last year compared to 2005, helping make Los Angeles the second-safest metropolitan city in the U.S. behind New York City.
Gang crime, however, was the “glaring exception,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. More than half of the 478 homicides reported in 2006 were attributed to gangs and 86 percent of murder victims were either black or Hispanic, police said.
“We will not tolerate that type of hate crime in the city,” Villaraigosa said. “It’s unacceptable.”
Police Chief William Bratton said he believes the number of gang crimes was much higher because gang members often do not cooperate with authorities.
“While we celebrate that crime is down ... there are certain areas of the city that remain extremely violent,” Police Chief William Bratton said.
Bratton and Villaraigosa said cracking down on gangs will be the Police Department’s priority in 2007. They promised to announce new anti-gang initiatives in the coming weeks but declined to elaborate.
Since Bratton took office in late 2002, overall crime has decreased steadily despite having one officer for every 445 residents in 2006 — less than half the rate of New York City.
Los Angeles had a reported 131,597 major crimes last year compared to 173,667 in 2002. The numbers were significantly better than the city’s most violent year in 1992 when there were more than 317,000 major crimes reported, police said.
Violent crime was down in every category during 2006 except for robbery, which jumped 5.3 percent from 2005. Nationwide, violent crime was up 2.3 percent in 2005, police said.
Final year-end crime statistics will be released by the FBI in the spring.
Among the so-called eight Part I crimes — homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assaults, burglary, burglary from a vehicle, personal and other theft and auto theft — the rate fell 7.7 percent in 2006 from the previous year.
Bratton made good on a promise made early last year. Crime in the downtown Skid Row area, which has numerous homeless encampments, declined 18 percent in 2006.
Police also made more arrests — about 2 percent — compared to 2005.
Bratton, a former New York police commissioner, was encouraged by the statistics and has been promised about 1,000 more police officers by city officials over the next few years.
Villaraigosa also said he would support another five-year term for Bratton, who has expressed interest in having his contract renewed.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” Villaraigosa said.