From follow-home burglaries to attacks and even killings on the Metro system, there's been no shortage of headlines about crime in Los Angeles. But what is less clear is whether overall crime is up or down. For answers, "LA Times Today" turned to Crosstown LA, a nonprofit that does data journalism at USC Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism. Reporter Jon Regardie spoke with Lisa McRee. 

Crosstown LA compiles public data from the LAPD and creates data-driven stories tracking crime rates, COVID spikes and other news. Regardie spoke about the number of burglaries in LA, and why some data may be unreliable. 

"If you look at the numbers that the LAPD is publicly reporting, they're saying that burglaries are actually down a little bit in the first eight or nine months of this year compared with the same period last year. To date, there have been about 9,700 burglaries, which they say is about 500 fewer than in the same period last year and down even a little further from the year before that. But it's important to note that there are some inconsistencies. There are some questions. The LAPD has recently changed how it gathers and reports data. There's a belief that not all of the data is being captured and categorized," Regardie explained.

Areas like Encino and Brentwood, usually thought of as safe neighborhoods, have seen higher burlgary rates recently. Car thefts in Los Angeles, Regardie said, are a mixed bag since the pandemic. 

"Last year, in 2023, there were almost 26,000 car thefts in the City of Los Angeles, highest number since 2006. Now, figures are fairly stable in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year, about 17,000... But in the same period in 2010, [there were] just about 10,300. So literally 64% more car thefts in the first eight months of this year in the city. We've seen that, though, in a lot of major U.S. cities," he said. 

Regardie also broke down LA’s murder statistics.

"We've seen about 218 murders so far in the first eight to nine months of this year. That's about six percent down from the same period last year and about 25 percent down from the same period in 2022," Regardie said.

How does LA compare to other major cities?

"In 2023, according to data that we crunched from the state Attorney General's Office, the City of Los Angeles had 8.4 murders per 100,000 residents. New York City was below that, 4.4 murders per 100,000 residents. But Los Angeles did much better than some other places. In Chicago, [the rate is] 22 murders per 100,000 residents. Washington, D.C., last year, nearly 40 killings per 100,000,” Regardie explained.

Watch the full interview above.

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