Crime rates drop throughout the county
Santa Clarita Valley noted significant change
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Violent crimes in areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department declined by more than 12.5 percent in the first nine months of 2011 compared with the same period last year, according to the department.
Serious property crimes declined by 3.5 percent in sheriff’s patrol areas countywide during that period, compared to the first nine months of 2010, according to the sheriff’s department.
Combining both categories, overall crimes declined by about 5.4 percent, the sheriff’s department reported.
Sheriff’s stations experiencing the most significant decreases in overall violent crimes included the Santa Clarita Valley Station at 35.2 percent, Avalon Station at 30.4 percent, Malibu/Lost Hills Station at 29.7 percent, Lakewood Station at 24.8 percent, Carson Station at 24.0 percent, Norwalk Station at 21.8 percent, and Crescenta Valley Station at 21.6 percent.
There were 127 homicides through September of this year, a decrease of about 2.2 percent from the same period in 2010, when there 131 homicides, said sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker.
Most notably, Parker said, were decreases in homicides in the Carson, East Los Angeles and Lancaster areas. Carson Station homicides were reduced to three homicides through September of this year compared to six in the same period last year. The Lancaster Station has had six homicides this year compared to eight last year.
The East Los Angeles Station has had nine homicides this year, down from 13 homicides last year, “even though the cities of Maywood and Cudahy were added to the sheriff’s patrol area in mid-year of 2010,” Parker said.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The number of homicides over the past 12 months in Los Angeles County is down 12.5 percent compared to the same period last year, the sheriff's department reported today.
Between November 2009 and November 2010, 169 homicides had been reported, compared to 191 over the previous 12 months, continuing a trend that has seen a 50 percent drop in murders over the past five years.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the number of annual is the lowest since 1975.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Leaving the fireworks to the professionals this July Fourth is a safer alternative than setting off pyrotechnics yourself.
That’s the message from safety officials to residents of Los Angeles County cities that allow the personal use of fireworks.
All fireworks are illegal for personal use within the city of Los Angeles, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A three-day count of the homeless population in much of Los Angeles County will begin tonight in the San Gabriel Valley and East Los Angeles.
What is billed as the nation's largest count of the homeless is conducted every two years and is headed by the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority.
LANCASTER, Calif.—A gang member on parole and his girlfriend were arrested today after one of them allegedly shot at a sheriff's deputy who had stopped their vehicle, a sheriff's lieutenant said.
Christopher Orlando, and Shayla Janelle Harper, both 25, were in a vehicle about 3:40 a.m. near 10th Street West at Jackman Street, when the deputy tried to stop them because the vehicle didn't have a license plate, said Lt. Joanne Sharp of the sheriff's Lancaster station.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Two Southland men pleaded guilty today to a federal conspiracy charge involving a scheme in which stolen identities were used to file phony tax returns, claiming thousands of dollars in refunds.
Michael Williams, 42, of Palmdale, and 34-year-old Mike Niko of Carson entered their pleas before U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer. They face up to 10 years each in prison at sentencing Sept. 9.
