The Cost of Crime in Los Angeles; the case for proactive crime reduction by George Gascón .....LAPD Assistant Chief .....Office of Operations

March, 2004

The following PowerPoint slide show is a presentation on the true human and economic costs of crime, and presents the case for being proactive in defeating it. Originally prepared for the LA District Attorney, LAPD Assistant Chief George Gascón has graciously offered it to the community at our request.

At the conclusion of 2002 the City of Los Angeles earned the unfortunate title of “Murder Capital” of the country with 645 homicides, but this had been reduced in 2003 to just over 500 (and each homicide costs the city over $3 million). In fact, all Part 1 Crime (the most serious categories) was reduced significantly.

As you'll see in the presentation, because of the significant drop in crime, LA saved almost $500 billion in 2003, over $300 billion attributed to gang related crimes alone!

The report stresses continued and improved partnerships with the community, the District Attorney and Parole / Probation. It outlines strategic solutions for crime fighting against certain suspect types (parolees, gang members, drug addicts, etc.) and in certain designated high risk areas (parks, bars, banks, etc.).

The presentation concludes by illustrating goals for a 20% reduction in citywide Part 1 crime, increased use of technology (COMPSTAT, COPLINK and improved analysis etc.), a reduction in citywide response time to 8 minutes, and an improved overall Part 1 Crime clearance rates (to 25%).

Enjoy the slide show:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Assistant Chief George Gascón

Office of Operations
150 N. Los Angeles Street - Room 604
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone: (213) 485-4048

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~