Two Los Angeles police patrol divisions on the Westside of Los Angeles saw modest drops in violent crime during the first three months of the year, except for robberies, which jumped nearly 26% in Pacific area, newly released figures show.
The LAPD reported that the overall violent crime rate in the Pacific and West Los Angeles police jurisdictions was down about 3% for the quarter ended March 28, compared with the same period a year earlier.
There were 98 robberies in the Pacific Division in the first quarter of 2009, 20 more than same period a year earlier. But other categories of violent crime, including homicide, rape and assault, were lower in that area, which stretches from Venice to the airport, between the the San Diego Freeway and the coast.
In the West Los Angeles Division, where political leaders and residents have complained that redeployments left fewer officers, rapes and robberies were up but there were fewer assaults than in the same period last year.
Property crime in the division rose slightly as a 25% drop in burglaries was offset by a nearly 50% increase in thefts from vehicles.
The Pacific Division had 10% fewer reported property offenses overall but burglaries rose to 303 from 265 a year earlier, a 14% increase.
Overall arrests in both the Pacific and West Los Angeles divisions fell by double digits.
— Andrew Blankstein
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