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LA Sheriff's Department: Violent Crime Rate Drops In 2017

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The past year saw a significant drop in violent crime in areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including a 20.5 percent dip in homicides when compared to 2016, Sheriff Jim McDonnell announced today.

McDonnell noted that the drop in the number of homicides can be attributed in part to a 46 percent reduction in areas patrolled by deputies in the sheriff's Compton, Century and East Los Angeles stations.

The LASD reported an overall 4.6 percent decline in Part 1 violent and property crimes over the past year, including a 4.5 percent decrease in rapes, 2.3 percent decline in robberies, 2.2 percent dip in aggravated assault, 2.4 percent decrease in burglaries, 6.2 percent drop in larceny thefts, 4.5 percent dip in grand theft auto and an 11.9 percent decline in arson.

But the department more than doubled its narcotics arrests in 2017, making 1,028 arrests compared to 719 in 2016, McDonnell said.

(©2017 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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