Mayor Bass cites 47% drop in LA murders over four years

Mayor Karen Bass announced Monday that violent crime in Los Angeles has fallen sharply over the past four years. She presented new data showing a 47% drop in homicides between October 22, 2022, and October 22, 2026. During that same period, the city recorded 161 fewer murders and 573 fewer shooting victims, representing a 50% decline in gunshot injuries.

The mayor’s office stated these figures align with a national trend of decreasing violent and property crime. Year-over-year statistics showed similar downward movement. In the San Fernando Valley alone, burglaries fell by 41%, robberies dropped by 21%, and motor vehicle thefts decreased by 31% compared to the same period in 2025. Bass pointed to her directive for the Los Angeles Police Department to focus on Ventura Boulevard in Encino, Tarzana, and Woodland Hills as a key factor in the property crime reduction.

Speaking at a news conference at the LAPD Van Nuys station, Bass said the data reflects real progress and the right investments for the city. “While I recognize that safety is more than statistics, this data shows that we are making real progress, making the right investments, and responding to the needs of communities across this city,” Bass said. City Councilmember John Lee, who represents District 12 and chairs the Public Safety Committee, praised the LAPD in a statement. “These numbers represent fewer residents becoming victims of crime,” Lee said.

Bass also directed the city to establish a unified call center for unarmed civilian crisis response teams. The executive order aims to replace two separate dispatch centers with a single unit and requires relevant departments to hire more 911 dispatchers. This move follows concerns raised in December 2025 regarding police-involved shootings. In that year, LAPD officers fired their weapons in 46 incidents, killing 14 people and wounding 23 others, a 70% increase from 2024.

Bass ordered an independent evaluation of officer-involved deaths and severe injuries in August, focusing on interactions with individuals experiencing mental health crises. Data on such incidents for 2026 have not yet been released. The mayor is currently seeking a second term, facing a challenge from Councilwoman Nithya Raman. The two candidates have debated public safety records twice this season.

Raman’s campaign criticized the mayor for taking credit for a nationwide trend. In a statement, Raman’s team argued that Angelenos face longer 911 hold times and darker streets due to stretched repair timelines. They noted that streetlight repair times have grown from one month to nearly a year. The campaign also cited budget cuts that forced sworn officers to fill civilian desk jobs instead of responding to crime.

Raman stated that the question is whether City Hall has done everything possible to keep crime low. “The question isn’t whether crime has gone down. The question is whether City Hall has done everything it can to keep driving it down, and what Nithya has heard over and over from community members is that it hasn’t,” the statement read.