Los Angeles homicides reach 15-year high in first half of 2022
A study out of the University of Southern California details that the number of homicides committed in the City of Los Angeles reached a 15-year high in the first half of 2022.
Using information provided by Los Angeles Police Department, data compiled by Crosstown, the nonprofit new organization based out of USC, showed that in the first six months of the year, 181 homicides were reported, a jump over the 178 report in 2021 and the most since 2007.
Numbers more than doubled by the end of last year, with 397 reported homicides, which was also a 15-year high. If the homicide rate continues in the same direction, 2022 would be the second-straight year of highs for L.A.
The report also touched on the fact that homicides tend to spike during summer, with nearly 50 homicides reported in July alone in 2021.
Of the 181 homicides thus far, nearly a quarter (42) have been categorized as unhoused people, a noted jump from 2021's 37 and a drastic increase from the 23 unhoused victims in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Additionally, almost 90% of those homicides involved a male victim, making up for 158 of the 181 detailed by LAPD numbers.
The oldest victim was an 87-year-old man, while the youngest was an 8-year-old child.
Neighborhoods reporting the highest number of homicides were Downtown (17), Vermont Knolls (11) and Boyle Heights (10), followed by Vermont-Slauson (7) and Vermont Square (6).
Sixty-seven of those incidents were reported to have occurred in the streets, while another 32 were said to have happened on city sidewalks, making up more than a third of the number.
According to the data, a firearm was also used in over 75% of cases and arrests were made in less-than-half -- or 43% -- of the homicides.
Crosstown noted that the data is purely represented by the amount of incidents reported to LAPD, and not representative of the amount of crimes that actually occurred in the time frame.
