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Mayor, LAPD Chief Hail 'Dramatic Decline' In Crime

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hailed a "continued, steady and dramatic decline" of crime in the city of Los Angeles after mid-year crime rates were released Friday.

KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou reports Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck seized the opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of the last eight years.

Mayor, LAPD Chief Hail 'Dramatic Decline' In Crime

COMPSTAT - short for computer statistics - data covering Jan. 1 to June 22 of this year showed a 12.5 percent decrease in violent crimes compared with the same period last year.

There was also a 13.5 percent drop in homicides during that period from 148 to 128, according to police statistics. Gang-related crimes declined by 21.5 percent, and gang-related homicides fell by about 30 percent, from 84 to 59.

With a 33 percent drop in total violent and property crimes in Los Angeles from 2005 to date, Villaraigosa said the city was the only one of the top ten California cities to show a drop in major crimes this year.

"Community policing counts, a diverse police department counts, a department committed to consitutional policing counts," he said.

Both Villaraigosa and Beck also agreed that increasing the size of the LAPD to 10,000 officers during his term in office has also allowed for innovation and new ideas to meet the challenges that await the next administration.

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