Los Angeles sees increase in overall crime for first time since 2003

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Overall crime is up in Los Angeles for the first time in more than a decade, according to figures covering the first six months of 2015.

Violent crime in the city overall is up 20.6 percent compared to the same time last year, according to the Los Angeles Police Department figures released on Wednesday.

Under the violent crime category, homicide fell 6.7 percent, but rape was up 7.9 percent, robbery up 16.6 percent and aggravated assaults increased by 26.3 percent.

Property crimes rose 10.9 percent, burglary saw a 15.8 percent increase, while auto theft was up 13.8 percent and larceny up by 8.9 percent.

So why the spike in crime? According to Mayor Eric Garcetti and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, there are a number of factors.

Garcetti said resources have not been provided to deal with people who are not going to jail for non-violent crimes.

"Our city attorney hasn't gotten more resources and all those former felonies are now misdemeanors and are supposed to be prosecuted by the city of Los Angeles," Garcetti said, referring to Proposition 47, the new law that reduces felonies to misdemeanors for non-violent, non-serious crimes.

The mayor said the situation, which he described as a "revolving door," could have played a role in the spike in property crime. However, Garcetti was quick to point out that property crime was already on the rise before Jan. 1, which is when Prop 47 went into effect.

Beck also greed, saying Prop 47 cannot be taken out of the equation.

"I think that the city has seen an increase of folks that live on the street that are more likely to be involved in violent incidents. We've seen an increase in gang crime, we've seen an increase in domestic violence," Beck said.

According to the stats, gang-related crimes saw an increase of 18 percent but gang-related homicides are down 9 percent.

Garcetti and Beck said the crime stats for the first three months of the year were actually higher than the numbers to date.

To stem the rise in crime, Garcetti said domestic violence response teams, which had been limited to a few police stations, will be expanded to all 21 police division by the end of summer, with funding and contracts already in place.

The mayor also said a back-up unit stationed out of the Metropolitan Division will be boosted by 200 officers by the end of the year to offer police support across the city.

City News Service contributed to this report.