Number of homicides in LA falls, but remains higher than pre-pandemic, LAPD report shows

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The number of homicides in Los Angeles continues to drop, going from 402 killings in 2021 to 382 last year, according to LAPD's 2022 Homicide Report released Tuesday.

Police Chief Michel Moore said that represents a 5% reduction in homicides and pairs with a rise in cases solved, referred to by the department as its clearance rate.

"We did see a 10% increase in our clearance rate, rising from 68% in 2021 to 75% in 2022," Moore said at a news conference.

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But the report contains some worrisome data as well.

Even with the overall number of homicides down last year, some specific parts of the city saw an increase in murders. In LAPD's Valley Bureau, the number of homicides jumped 14% last year.

Moore blames that rise on an increase in gang murders in the Valley, while saying gang crime continues to haunt the city as a whole.

"Gang related homicides represent more than half of all the homicides in Los Angeles," Moore said.

Also notable is homicides in L.A. involving the homeless population. The latest numbers show almost 30% of all the killings in the city of L.A. involve homeless individuals. That means LAPD officers reported that the suspect, the victim or both was homeless. An ABC7 analysis of LAPD data shows nearly a quarter of all homicide victims were homeless.

"We have a 55% increase from 2020 to 2022 in the number of homicides involving persons who are houseless," Moore explained.