2012 Crimes in Northeast L.A. Higher Than Last Year

Car thefts, homicide and rape across Northeast Los Angeles are up significantly compared to last year so far—and just about every crime in Eastside neighborhoods of the region is higher than crimes in Westside areas such as Silver Lake, Los Feliz and East Hollywood.

That regional snapshot of crime is worrying because every year “we try to keep crimes 5 percent lower” than the pervious year, said Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Bill Murphy, who heads the Northeast Community Police Station.

From January through Saturday, Dec. 8, as many as 934 vehicles were stolen across Northeast L.A.—36 more than the corresponding period last year, Murphy said in a recent interview to Patch.

Homicide was up 33 percent and rape 8.7 percent, Murphy said, (although the increase in rapes is caused by just two more incidents than in 2011).

“When our crime rate goes up or down, a big part of it is stolen cars,” Murphy said, adding: “If we can average 91 crimes a week we beat last year’s crimes by 5 percent.”

Last week alone, a total of 119 crimes were committed in Northeast L.A., Murphy said, adding that he expects the year's total to exceed 5,000 crimes—about 260 too many for the purposes of bettering last year's statistics.

In the Eagle Rock area, as many as 91 cars were stolen or burglarized during the roughly month-long period from Oct. 27 through Nov. 24—a nearly 50-precent increase over the preceding month-long period, Murphy said.

Compared with 2011, however, car thefts recorded from January through Dec. 8 are down 13.9 percent in Eagle Rock, although car break-ins are up 14.9 percent, Murphy said.

The single-largest increase in crimes in Eagle Rock pertains to personal thefts, particularly shoplifting (most of it at Eagle Rock Plaza), which is up so far this year by 48 percent, compared to 2011, Murphy said.

The captain is scheduled to announce statistics comparing this year’s crimes with 2011 at the monthly Community Police Advisory Board meeting on Monday, Dec. 17. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at 6 p.m. in the Roll Call Room of the Northeast Community Police Station, located on 3353 San Fernando Rd.