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December 2, 2008 11:47:07 AM CST

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LA Murder Rate Plummets

Posted Dec 24, 07 6:44 AM CST in Crime & Courts,  US 

(Newser) – The murder rate in Los Angeles has sunk to its lowest in nearly 40 years, the Los Angeles Times reports. There have been 368 killings in the City of Angels this year, down from over 1,000 in 1992. The last time the murder rate was so low was 1970, when LA had 1 million fewer people, guns were less prevalent on the streets, and gangs were a smaller presence.

Experts credit the plunge to better policing, use of gang intervention workers to help prevent retaliatory gunfire, and gentrification of previously high-crime neighborhoods. Angelenos who remember the bad old days of the crack epidemic and rampant gang warfare say that while the city still doesn't feel safe, they're proud of the improvement. "It's not just a number; it means a whole lot," said one woman who's lived in Watts since the fifties.

Source Los Angeles Times

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Los Angeles, UNITED STATES: Gang related graffiti is painted on a fence in South Central Los Angeles, California 28 November 2006. The murder rate in Los Angeles has fallen to its lowest rate since 1970,...   (Getty Images)
LAPD Mobile Substation at LAPD West Valley Station. Los Angeles police chiefs say more focused policing and efforts to tackle gang warfare have helped the murder rate drop to its lowest since 1970.   (Flickr)
The LAPD on the streets. Los Angeles police have made gang warfare a top priority and are increasingly working with gang members to reduce violence.   (Flickr)
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